Close Proximity
by BlackenedAngel
Summary: Back from Neverland, Emma is confused about her feelings for Neal and Hook. It is not an easy choice for her to make, and she is constantly in a state of confusion. Will she end up with Hook in the end, or will everyone else stand in their way? CaptainSwan AU. Set after they've saved Henry from Neverland.
1. Chapter 1

**So I finally decided that I was going to write a new fanfiction, and isntead of Harry Potter, I chose Once Upon A Time. I hope people aren't too dissapointed. Ironically, I'm actually writing these first few chapers while I'm watching Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Go figure. Anyway, I hope you guys love Captain Swan as much as I do, and I hope you guys like this story. It's set after the whole gang comes back from Neverland having saved Henry, only Pan isn't in Henry's body. So it's pretty much an AU. I might throw in a few scenes that have actually happened in the show but then change them a bit. Enjoy, and please review!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Once Upon A Time.**

Chapter 1: Reverie

Emma woke up with a pounding headache as the sun streamed in through the window of her bedroom in the loft. She'd had a bit too much to drink last night after the celebratory welcome back party. Usually, Emma would drink this much. But she had been so happy yesterday having Henry back and seeing everyone getting along that she couldn't help it. And the wine had been pretty damn good.

As she slowly pushed herself out of bed, she remembered the way Neal and Hook had been whispering to each other quitely at the bar at Granny's. She had been worried about it, mainly because she was pretty sure what they had been talking about. Her. It made her feel extremely uncomfortable. She wasn't used to having this much attention on her: from her parents, from Neal, from Hook; the only attention she truly cared for at the moment was from Henry. Having him back in her arms had made her feel so…complete. It was strange for her to rely on one person to make her life seem so fulfilled. After Neal had left, she had pretty much done everything on her own. Now, she had all these responsibilities towards other people. She sighed, and contemplated this as she stared out the window and out over the town square. It was a gorgeous day outside, the sun streaming brightly and not a could to be seen in the soft blue sky. Perhaps she would take Henry out for a walk on the beach. He could tell her about all the strange things he had witnessed while stuck in Neverland, and she would tell him about all the adventures they had had trying to rescue him. She was pulled out of her reverie as she heard Henry's now familiar voice floating up from downstairs.

"Mom, Grandpa's been making pancakes for breakfast, can you make me some hot chocolate to go with them?"

Emma smiled, walked over to the door, put on a cardigan, and padded down the stairs. She could have sworn she could literally feel her heart warm as she took in the sight in the kitchen. David behind the stove, Mary Margaret setting the breakfast bar, Henry drawing at the kitchen table. It was a wonderful thing to see, and she momentarily forgot about all the confusion she had been feeling about the two men in her life as she started making cocoa for Henry and the rest of her family. When it was done, she set the cocoa down in front of Henry, and went back to the kitchen to grab a bottle of aspirin from the cupboard. Mary Margaret smiled knowingly at Emma; she'd been smart enough to refuse the last glass of wine from the bottle the night before. Smiling back grimly, she sat down next to Henry and rubbed a hand over his arm. He smiled at her, and she beamed back at him. Instinctively, she touched the necklace around her neck with the swan pendant she had gotten from Neal when they had still been together all those years ago. It was force of habit, and usually she didn't even notice she was doing it. This time, however, she realized. She looked down at the charm in her hand, and sighed. Back then, she had always thought that she would end up with Neal. She had been so competely in love with him; it had been so hard to imagine herself falling for anyone else. But then he left her, and she had felt betrayed. To be honest, she never thought she would have been able to forgive him. Even though she _had_ forgiven him, after he had explained what had happened with August, it was still hard. She never really dated after that. Meeting Graham when she first came to Storybrooke was like an awakening she never thought she had needed. She felt a pang of sadness when she remembered what had happened to him. Even though she knew she probably wouldn't have ended up with him, it would have been great to have him as a friend and colleague at the station. She dropped the charm from her hands, and focused her attention on Henry.

"What are you drawing today?"

"You and me in my castle. You're teaching me to fight with a sword," he replied, as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

Emma laughed, "Listen, kid, I think you're father or your grandfather would be the best choice to teach you how to wield a sword. I've only ever used one once or twice."

"But you beat a dragon with it. You can't be that bad," Henry said in his matter of fact voice, making Emma laugh again.

"Keep drawing kid, when we're done with breakfast we'll go for a walk on the beach and I'll drop you at Regina's house."

Henry turned back to his drawing, and Emma walked over to the kitchen to join Mary Margaret at the breakfast bar.

"How you feeling?" Mary Margaret said, with a glint of mischief in her eyes.

"Fine, thanks. Glad to hear your so concerned about my post drinking welfare."

"That's what mothers are for!" This time Emma joined in on her mother's laughter, throwing her arm around her shoulder.

"So..have you, you know…" Mary Margeret said, unable to finish her sentence.

"Have I what?' Emma asked, 'Spit it out, Mary Margaret", Emma grinned wickedly.

"Have you talked to Hook since we got back from Neverland?"

The grin slid off of Emma's face as she contemplated how best to answer without giving anything away. After she had kissed him in Neverland, it was true that her thoughts had strayed in favor of him more than once since that moment. It had been a kiss…a kiss that had taken her by surprise in more ways than one. Not only was he a good kisser (maybe even a great one), but she had felt something she hadn't expected too. She had expected it would have been more of thank you kiss, as she had intended it to be. Something more for him than for her. But she hadn't been able to help herself. She had gotten lost in that kiss, and forgotten all her problems in the moment that she had been closer to Hook as she ever thought she would have been.

Mary Margaret was looking at her expectantly. Judging by the slight smirk on her face, Emma guessed that her mother knew exactly what she had been thinking about.

"No, not really. It's been busy you know, what with spending extra time with Henry and catching up with work at the sherriff's office. I haven't really had time to dwell on something that happened once and won't ever happen again." Emma said, with less conviction than she had wanted to.

Mary Margaret had that glint in her eye again, and looked at her daughter knowingly. "Whatever you say Emma, whatever you say." As Emma turned away from her mother indignantly, she just caught sight of her father shaking his head at his wife with an amused smile on his face.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2! I promise more Emma/Hook interaction soon. But there might be a few obstacles along the way. Otherwise, there wouldn't really be a story. If you like or have some feedback, don't forget to review!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own OUAT.**

Chapter 2: Conversation

After having dropped Henry off at Regina's, she decided to walk over to the station instead of taking the bug. She figured the walk would do her some good; get some fresh air and clear her head, the only true cure for a hangover (that, and greasy food paired with some aspirin). As she listened to the leaves rustling in the branches overhead and felt the warmth of the sun on her face she realized she had found her true home, as strange a place as it was to be. Even Regina, who had pretty much been her enemy since the day she had gotten here, had become a reasonable and civilized addition to Emma's life.

While enjoying feeling the fresh breeze on her face, she almost missed Neal walking straight towards her. Seeing him made her feel weirdly guilty, and she couldn't place her finger on where that guilt was coming from. But he was Henry's father, and they had such history together that she could hardly start ignoring him just because she felt some unwanted guilt. She stopped walking and smiled at him, and he immediately smiled back. She couldn't help but remember how she felt when he used to give her that smile before. She felt wistful for a time that was much simpler. A time in which she knew what she wanted and who she wanted to get it with. Emma was not a person equipped to deal with confusion.

"No yellow bug today, Swan? I thought you didn't like taking walks." Neal grinned an infectious smile.

"No regular bagel in your hand today, I see. Decided to give up on carbs?" It was easier for Emma to be snarky with him than it was to say what she was really feeling. Only because she didn't really know how she was feeling.

"I ate at Granny's. They've got some killer pancakers there. I saw you enjoyed the party last night, I take it a few aspirin were downed by you this morning." Neal said, still smiling. Emma wished he would just stop because it would make shoving aside her feelings that much easier.

"What can I say? The wine was good,' Emma was considering whether or not she should ask the question that had been on her mind since this morning, even though she already thought she knew the answer. 'I saw you talking to Hook yesterday. What was that all about?" She guessed that the innocent face she was trying to put on right now wasn't working particularly well.

Neal looked at her curiously. "I think you already know the answer to that Emma. Look, I know what happened between you two in Neverland. And it's okay. I know why it happened. He's not a bad guy. He can actually be pretty fair and honest when he's needed or when there's something in it for him. In this case, it was you. You were what was in it for him."

Emma looked at him with a shocked expression. That wasn't exactly the answer she'd been bargaining for.

"Don't look so shocked, Emma! It's not like you didn't know this would happen. Meeting Henry, seeing you again, I just…I get why you 'fancy' Hook or whatever, but that doesn't mean that I'm not going to try to show you what we could be like as a family."

"Neal, I..,' Emma began, but she didn't really know what to say. This was definitely not a conversation she was prepared to have yet. Not at all. 'You do realize you were just recentely engaged, right? I know that Tamara wasn't what you thought she was and that she betrayed you and what not, but that doesn't mean it didn't hurt. I don't think either of us are ready to even begin to try and see what could happen between us. I certainly know I'm not." Emma hadn't mean for it to come out so bluntly, but at least she had gotten her point across. She could see the pained look in Neal's eyes but she knew it was for the best.

"You know what Hook said to me yesterday? He said he would step aside. For Henry. So that you and I can at least try to attempt to be a real family. If you're not ready, that's fine. We'll try when you are,' Neal could clearly see the confusion on Emma's face as he explained what had been said. 'Look, I realize that this was a weird place to have this particular conversation, but it needed to happen eventually."

"Okay." She'd have liked to have sounded more intelligent, but right now, that was all she could muster.

"Have a good day at work Emma. Is it okay if I come pick up Henry for lunch tomorrow? I wanted to take him to Granny's if that's good with you."

"Yes, Yeah… sure. You can pick him up at the loft."

"Well, okay then. See you around, Emma."

As Neal brushed past her, she expected to feel some sort of energy as his arm brushed against hers. There was a slight tingle, perhaps, but nothing like it used to be. Nothing like when Hook had put his hand around her neck as he had kissed her back and their separate breaths had become one as their lips connected. There had been an energy there that she couldn't deny. It had almost been like… magic. When she had walked away and told him that it was a one time thing she could feel his eyes burning holes in the back of skull. She hadn't been able to ignore the burning sensation that seemed to be etched onto her skin where his fingers had grazed her, or forget how his blue eyes had seemed even brighter than she thought possible when she pulled him closer.

She shook her head. She needed to get her priorities straight. Henry, spending time with her parents, and work. That was what she needed to focus on. Not a man with a puppy dog cute face or a ridiculously handsome pirate who was constantly clad in leather.

As she walked towards the rest of the station, there was one question that she couldn't keep off her mind. Had Hook really said that he would step aside?


	3. Chapter 3

**Captain Swan moment coming up! Hope you guys enjoy **** Please remember to review if you've got something good to say or some helpful feedback for me!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Once Upon A Time**

Chapter 3: Advice

Work went by excruciatingly slowly. It was horrible. Everytime she pulled out a new file full of paperwork she would read the same sentence twenty times before it even made sense. She had already stuffed herself with three bear claws in the span of three hours. She kept telling herself they weren't comfort food, but everytime she asked David to go get her one as he went out to run an errand he would look at her with eyes that said more than his words ever could. She was already dreading the father-daughter pep talk that was sure to come. As close as she felt to David, she wasn't used to getting fatherly advice. It was still weird to her, and she never really knew what to do with the advice after he gave it to her.

She heard the door fall shut and she desperately tried to hide herself behind her folder. She heard footsteps in her office and a few seconds later another bear claw was lowered in front of her face. She slowly lowered the file and sheepishly glanced up at her father, Prince Charming. Yet another thing she wasn't used to.

"I overheard your conversation with Mary Margaret this morning." He said after a few moments of silence.

"You do realize I don't really want to have this conversation."

"You really think that I'm going to let you off that easy?" David gave Emma his easy going smile and she couldn't help but let her guard down.

"Exactly how much did you hear?"

"Enough to know that you could use some of my incredible fatherly advice." He looked down at her expectantly, and grabbed a chair to sit down next to her.

"I don't really know how to start these things."

"Neither do I, but I think we've done okay so far. Why don't I start, and we'll just see how this goes."

"Alright…" Emma didn't look convinced, but her father decided to plough on ahead anyway.

"I understand that you're confused between these two guys. Honestly, I'm not too pleased with either one of them, but that's probably just because I'm your father and I don't really want to see you with anyone anyway. Neal hurt you, and I won't forgive him for that, but I can understand if you can. You guys have history, and you can't forget that. Just like your mother and I couldn't forget that we had some kind of history even when we weren't able to remember where we were from or who we really were. As for Hook…"

Emma cut him off. "You're just going to tell me to stay away from him, aren't you?"

"Not neccesarily. Hook isn't as bad as I thought he was. Coming from me, that's saying something. He really did try to help me when we were over in Neverland. And yes, before you stop me, I know that he did that mostly for you, in fact he pretty much told me so, but that doesn't matter. If he's willing to do that for you… I can't fault him for that."

"Well that was suprising." Emma was sort of astounded.

"Look, I believe that life is made up of moments. And sure, most of the time it seems like there are more bad ones than good ones. I've been there myself. But you've got to find the good ones in between the bad ones. Because otherwise, what are we even doing? If you can't find one good moment with one of these guys to outweigh all the bad ones, that's when I would say that it's not worth it."

"How do I know you're still not trying to keep me away from Hook? I can feel a slight 'bromance' brewing between you too."

"Emma, you forget, I'm a married man." Emma chuckled at her father's ridiculous words. Although she hadn't been kidding about the bromance.

"Emma, look. All kidding aside, do you understand what I'm trying to say to you?"

"Yeah, I think so. But to be honest, I think it's safer for me to stay away from both of them for a while."

"That's your choice. And I'll support you in it no matter what."

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As Emma was headed over to the diner to pick up dinner, she reflected on her day with slight disdain. It had been emotionally draining, more so than she had thought possible, and she couldn't wait to get home, eat Granny's lasagna in front of the TV with Henry, and head straight to bed. When she walked up to the door she heard a huge cry of laughter and wondered what was happening inside. As she opened the door and the familiar bell rang, she saw the dwarves surrounding a man dressed in head to toe leather. There was only one man dressed like that, and she wasn't mentally prepared to run into him today. Ducking her head, she walked swiftly to the counter and asked Ruby to get her food as quickly as possible, already getting the money out of her wallet. As Ruby headed into the kitchen, the laughter from the group died down and she heard the familiar sound of people shuffling out of booths to let someone else pass. Desperately hoping it was Grumpy or Sneezy, she focused all her attention on the no-smoking sign behind the counter.

"Wasn't expecting to see you here tonight, Swan. I'll admit, it's quite the pleasant surprise."

Emma mentally cursed her luck and turned to face the pirate. He had his all-too familiar smirk on his face, and he was clearly checking her out. Emma rolled her eyes at him, and he smiled infuriatingly at her. She couldn't help but look up into his eyes, which seemed to be turquoise blue tonight, and she sucked in a deep breath before mentally slapping herself and averting her gaze. He chuckled, and shifted ever so slightly, but just enough that their arms were touching as they both leaned against the bar. Emma hated to admit it, but she could feel the warmth emanating from his body in waves, and she couldn't help but feeling a twisted kind of pleasure at his proximity.

"Waiting for your take-away, I see. Too bad you asked the lovely Ruby to go get it, I quite like the look of her behind the bar." He said, still with that devillish grin on his face.

"Oh really? Maybe you should tell her that, I'm sure she'd be pleased to be hit on by a man who has literally worn the same clothes since the day I met him. Which, incidentally, is what, a bit more than a year ago now? Who knows, maybe she likes the smell of dead fish and year-old sweat on a man." Emma said, quite proud of herself for sounding so self-assured. Honestly though, she could feel her hands shaking.

"So you've noticed what I've been wearing, eh, Swan? I can tell you that I've most definitely reciprocated that favour myself more than a few times."

"Oh just shut up and get back to your new friends. I'm sure they're just _pining_ for you company."

"As you wish, miss Swan." He winked at her, grabbed her hand, and planted a light kiss on her palm before letting it drop. "As you wish."

Emma was trying desperately not to sputter some bad retort, so instead she just stared at him with wide eyes as he once more smiled _that_ smile and walked back to his table. She followed him with her gaze as he walked away , and only turned back towards the counter once he sat down again at his booth. She was faintly aware of Ruby talking to her, but all she could focus on was the warmth still coming from the place where his lips had touched the skin on her hand.

"Emma, Emma? Hello, earth to Emma? I've got your food ready. You might wanna grab onto it before it gets cold."

Emma snapped out of her daze and looked at Ruby expectantly.

"Right, right! Thanks, Ruby. Sorry about that."

"Don't worry about it. Hook may be an ass, but he's a good looking one at that, and I'd probably be a little dazed too if he said goodbye to me that way." Ruby winked at her, which only made Emma think of Hook winking at her, which just made her all the more confused.

"Right. Okay. Well thanks for the food, see you soon."

As Emma made her way to walk out the diner, she could have sworn that she could feel Hook's eyes following her out the door, much the same way his eyes had followed her when she had walked away from him in Neverland.

**I'm sorry, I just really needed to add in the bromance between Charming and Hook. Couldn't help myself. I hope you guys like it so far, and I'll update ASAP!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4! I promise to update as much as I can. **** I might add in an OC at some point, to give Emma more people to interact with. I hope you guys like it and please review if you've got feedback, ideas or you just plain enjoyed it!**

Chapter 4: Dreams

Emma hadn't slept well. The entire night she'd been plagued with vivid dreams about different situations concerning her and Hook. Let's just say, vivid, means vivid. Everytime he appeared in a new dream she could feel that particular spot on her hand burning just as it had when he'd first kissed it yesterday evening at the diner. In one dream they were dancing, in the other dream they were laughing. In the next, they were cuddled up on the couch watching a movie. Every single time, Emma felt as though they were real, as though these dreams were something that could happen to her in the future. And everytime he would inch closer to her in the dream she could feel her breathing getting heavier and a cold sweat covering her body. At one point, she woke up, gasping, after he'd gotten so close to her she could have sworn that he truly holding himself up over her in her bed.

Waking up to the sound of pots and pans clattering downstairs, she quickly put her hair in a ponytail, rubbed her eyes and headed downstairs. Henry wasn't at home; apparentely he'd already been picked up by Neal. Emma looked curiously at the clock, and was surprised to find that it was already 12.30pm. She hadn't realized she'd slept so late. Mary Margaret smiled at her daughter as she entered the kitchen area.

"Did you have trouble sleeping last night? Your father and I could hear you moaning and talking in your sleep all night. Bad dream?"

At this, Emma blushed. She hadn't realized that her dreams would make her talk in her sleep. Thankfully, Mary Margaret wasn't look at her with a smirk on her face, so she figured she hadn't heard anything suspicious.

"No, not particularly." Emma said. Not at all, in fact. They'd been quite enjoyable.

"Oh, okay. Well I guess it doesn't matter. Henry left with Neal, he told me that you had agreed to them having lunch. Right?"

"Yeah, yeah I did. Don't worry about it."

Emma stared absentmindedly at the mug of coffee that Mary Margaret had placed in front of her. Her thoughts were whirling around dreams of love and passion.

"Emma, listen. I wanted to talk to you about something. Emma? Are you listening to me?"

Emma looked at her mother's concerned expression and sighed. "Okay. What's up?" She asked, afraid she already knew the answer.

"I noticed that you've been kind of absent-minded lately. I feel like you're just going through the motions of work, Henry, and us"-

"I would never neglect Henry like that!" Emma defended herself.

"No, no, that's not what I meant. I know that you are taking care of Henry. I just mean…God, I don't know what I mean. I just want you to know that if anything's been bothering you, you can come to me. I'm your mother Emma, I want to help you in any way I can." That concerned look was still plastered on Mary Margaret's face.

"I'm sorry. It's just… I don't really know what it is. I can't help it."

"Is it something… something that happened when we were in Neverland? Any realization you might have had while we were there?"

Emma looked at her mother with a hint of sadness in her eyes. Her mother, Snow White, who was quite literally the most trusting, honest, hopeful and loyal person Emma had ever met. She knew that she had hurt her mother in a way she had never intended to when she'd told her that she'd always felt like a lost girl; She hadn't meant it in an accusatory way, it was just the way it was. Emma had spent most of her childhood fending for herself, and she had just grown accustomed to it. Sure, she had missed the concept of a family during the holidays, when posters in shop windows and television ads were polluted with images of happy-go-lucky children smiling with presents in their hands that had been given to them by their loving parents. Sometimes, it was hard, when her foster families had completely ignored her in the name of their own biological children. She had only ever had one true instance of feeling like she had some kind of family. At one point, in one of her foster homes, she had felt strangely close to one of the other girls that lived there. They had gotten seperated in their late teens, when they had finally decided to get out of the system once and for all. Besides, that, Emma had been alone for most of her life, up until the time that she met Neal, and after that as well.

"I know that it hurt when I admitted what I truly was to get the map to work. And I'm sorry. I'm sorry that it might have hurt you and David, and I know that I haven't really made myself call you..call you Mom and Dad yet. But I'm trying. I really am, and I – I just want you to know that. And that's not what's bothering me. I honestly, and truly, don't know what's bothering me."

Mary Margeret looked her daughter right in the eyes and laid a hand over hers. "I believe you Emma. And I understand that it will take time. And we'll be here for you when you're ready."

"Thanks." Emma looked at Mary Margaret with a small and sad smile, before turning her head towards the door as she could hear Henry's loud voice out in the hallway. The door opened, and Emma was about to stand up to greet Henry as he came in, until she heard a second voice, a voice that she knew all too well.

"Next time, I'll get you a sundae with extra everything. But you ate that whole plate of fries on your own, that can't be healthy!" Walking through the door, Neal spotted Emma, and stopped in his stride. "Oh, hey, Emma, Mary Margaret. I don't think you're going to have to feed Henry for a while, I can't imagine he's not completely stuffed."

Mary Margaret chuckled and thanked him for brining him back. Emma stood awkwardly at the side, until Henry came up and gave her his usual hug around the waist. She smiled down at him, and hugged him back. But she could feel both her Mother's and her ex's eyes on her, and as Henry let go, she felt the same awkwardness she had felt the minute Neal had walked in and she hadn't had anything to do. She fidgeted with the charm on her necklace, and before she even realized, she caught Neal's gaze on her hands and neck. Quickly she dropped the silver swan, and glanced over at him. He was smiling at her, and she couldn't help but smile back. It had been a long time since he had looked at her like that, and she couldn't help but reciprocate the kind look in his eyes. It was hard to have him look at her like that, but then she remembered the way Hook at looked at her in her dreams, and she felt a tingling sensation in the pit of her stomach. She knew that it was ridiculous, they had just been dreams she'd had, but she couldn't shake the feeling that they had felt as though they were real. She felt more than saw a change in the way Neal was looking at her, and she could tell that he had registered the difference in expression on her face. She blushed again, quickly looking away. Even through dreams, Hook had the power to make her face turn as red as that of a school girl with a crush on her English teacher. Mary Margaret looked at her daughter with concern and curiousity, and as Neal said goodbye to Henry and the awkward moment had passed, Emma breathed a sigh of relief as the door shut behind him. She was going to need to get a grip on herself, and she desperately needed to figure out what she was feeling.

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As she sat at the corner table in Granny's, Emma took a careful sip of her hot cocoa (with cinnamon, of course) as she continued to fill out the enormous amounts of paperwork that had been stacking up at the sherriff's station. It amazed her how it was possible to have so much paperwork in such a small town where everything bad that ever happened had to do with magic. It was hardly something she could record in a national database. Storybrooke was made up of one seemingly endless Main Street, and yet so much had happened in this small town that could fill up the pages of an entire novel if someone bothered to write it all down.

Registering the sound of the doorbell, Emma was about to put her pen down on the paper when she heard the chair across from her being pulled back. She looked up, hoping that it would be Hook and dreading that it would be him at the same time. Instead, she was surprised to see Tinkerbell sitting opposite her, gazing at her with the standard confused and curious expression that most fairy-tale folk had when they first came to Storybrooke.

"Hey, Tink! How you settling in here?"

"Alright, I guess,' she said in that somewhat Australian sounding accent, 'I just need to get my bearings here and all. Don't really know a lot of people here."

"Well, that's not necessarily true, is it? I mean, you know me, obviously, Mary Margaret, David, Regina, and, you know… Hook." Her voice caught on that last name, and she was worried that Tink would have noticed. Apparentely not, because the blonde fairy ploughed on ahead with her story anyway.

"That's true. I'm just not very good at meeting new people. Without my magic to help them, I don't really know how to start a conversation with them." Tink lowered her eyelids as she said this last thing, and Emma felt a pang of sympathy for the young woman.

"Don't worry about it, everyone here has felt like that at some point. Ruby, behind the counter, she's the person for a good time, and Ariel and Belle are good to talk to."

"Thanks for the tip. I'll remember that." Tinkerbell stood up from her chair to go, but Emma interrupted her with a question before she could stop herself.

"Did anything – anything happen between you and Hook when he was in Neverland the first time?" Emma regretted the question as soon as it came out of her mouth, but she couldn't help herself. And to be honest, she really wanted – no needed – to know the answer.

Tink looked at her with a glint of mischief in her eye, but answered the question with an even tone of voice. "It might have, but it seems like a hundred years ago. Don't worry, Emma, as far as I know, he's on the market." Tink smiled a small smile, and headed over to the counter. When she was turned around, Emma buried her face in her hands, embarassed by the question she had just asked but even more ashamed that she had been so desperate to know the answer.


	5. Chapter 5

**Here it is! Chapter 5. I'm glad that I actually have Chrimstas/Winter holidays right now because it means I can update pretty much every day. I hope I'll still be able to do that by the time I go back to Uni! Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy, and please remember to review! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own OUAT. **

Chapter 5: Old Friends

Emma's instinct was telling her that something was going to happen. She didn't know what, she didn't know when, she didn't know at who's hand. But she knew. And to be honest, it scared her a little. It also made her feel exhausted, mainly because she'd just gotten Henry back from Neverland and she'd really like to have a full night of sleep at some point. Because Hook's ridiculously blue eyes had haunted her dreams last night as well, but in less enjoyable fashion. She'd dreamt that she'd seen him together with Tinkerbell, and it had killed her inside. Worse still, even Neal had shown up in the dream, and apparently they were about to go on a double date. How sick and twisted was that?

The problem was that Emma needed someone to talk to. Sure, she could talk to her mother, but all that understanding would just drive Emma crazy to the point where she couldn't take it anymore. She could talk to Ruby, but Ruby, even though she was a sweetheart, was a flirt and would tell Emma to just go for the man that excited her the most by just looking at her. There was Belle, but Belle was too busy with Mr. Gold, and to be honest, she didn't really want to have to hear all about that either. So she was left to ponder her strange and incoherent feelings, just the way she was used to.

The doorbell snapped her out of her trance and she quickly stood up to answer it. She wasn't expecting anyone, Emma thought to herself, and as she wondered who it could possibly be, she opened the door, stood and stared for a while, until she gasped in surprise at the person that was standing there.

"Anna?!"

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Anna looked exactly the way Emma remembered her; long, messy brown hair, bright green eyes that always had that expression of curiousity in them, and a stance that could make you fear even looking at her unless you actually knew her. Emma was so surprised to see this woman; the only girl she'd ever truly felt connected with during her childhood; her foster sister. It had been years since they'd seen each other; 12, in fact, and Emma could actually feel tears stinging her eyes as they looked at each other.

"Hey, Swan, it's been a long time. I didn't… I didn't know if I should come by, but I finally found out where you lived and I figured I could at least try to keep my promise."

Emma laughed nervously, and suddenly the two were hugging. They had been each other's life-lines for 2 years, until they got seperated the day they decided to run away from their foster home together. Emma was immensely glad to see her old friend, but at the same time she was nervous about explaining the whole situation. How was she supposed to explain that the only reason this town was here was because of magic, the only reason Anna could have found her now was because the curse had been broken, a curse that Emma herself had broken. And how was she supposed to explain her family, with her son who she'd given up at birth and parents who were just as old as she was? Suddenly snapping back into reality, Emma quickly let go, and she could see the confused expression in Anna's eyes.

"Can I at least come in? So we can catch up?" Anna actually sounded a little nervous, and Emma didn't blame her. She could feel the nerves too. It was weird finally seeing someone you used to be so close to after having missed them for so long.

"Yeah, of course! Sorry, I was just – I was just surprised to see you."

Emma stepped back to let Anna through the doorway, and watched as her friend took in the loft.

"Nice place you've got here." Anna said, looking at the pictures on the bookshelves. "These your roommates?" She asked, pointing at a picture of Snow and Charming.

Emma chuckled, mostly to herself, but didn't really know how to answer the question. "Yes, I guess you could say they are my roommates." Emma laughed again, and Anna looked at her quizzically. Moving on to the next picture, one of Emma and Henry together at Granny's, she asked: "And I'm guessing this is your kid?"

Emma smiled proudly, and walked over to take the picture out of Anna's hand. "Yeah, that's my son. Henry." They smiled at each other, as Emma set the picture back on the shelf.

"Can I get you something to drink, or to eat? To be honest, I'm not sure what I can offer you. But I can make a mean cocoa."

"Water is fine. Listen, Emma, I just want to get straight to it. I'm sorry about what happened. That night. I didn't know we would get split up and I certainly didn't know I'd end up getting caught by the cops because that drunk old man actually came to his senses for once and called them. I'm sorry I didn't try to get in touch with you it's just – you got away, as far as I knew, and I didn't want to risk that for you. I'm sorry."

Emma, shocked by the abrupt apology, shook her head, choosing her next words carefully. "It's okay. I understand why you did it. I'm just glad you kept your promise now and came to find me when you were finally free."

Anna snorted, rather unnatractively. "Yeah, sorry that took so long, by the way."

Emma smiled at herself. A silence fell over the kitchen, as both women contemplated the situation they were in right now. It was a comfortable silence though, one they were used to having when they were younger and didn't really want to talk about the stuff they were going through but knew they were there for each other anyways.

Anna broke the silence first. "I got your letter, by the way. The one you sent from Boston. I just – never got around to replying to it. But I take it that, Neal? That guy you were talking about, I take it he's Henry's father,' she glanced back at the picture quickly, 'Are you guys still together?"

Emma looked back up from the steaming cup of cocoa she was stirring for herself. "No, we're not together. Not anymore at least. At least, I don't think so. I mean no, we're, we're not together, I guess its…complicated."

"Okay, well that's not the decisive answer you usually get when you broke up a long time ago. Wait a minute, is he here too? Does he know about Henry? Has anything…happened?"

"Just like the old days, huh? Still boy-crazy are we?" Emma laughed, and Anna smirked back at her.

"No, not as much as I used to be, thank you. It's just that the way you stammered that answer makes me think there's something going on there. If there isn't, I believe you. If there is, then I say let me meet him and make up my own mind about him." Anna smiled a devilish smile, and Emma got a little worried.

"There's no need to meet him right away…besides, you know, there are more, you know, guys here. He's not alone in this town."

"There's a second guy?! Well, Emma, I never expected that from you. From myself, sure, but not from you. What's his name?"

Emma looked taken aback, but tried to recover as quickly as possible. "There is no second guy! I don't know what you're on about." Emma realized that if she was going to take Anna into town, if she was indeed intending to stay for a while, she was going to have to tell her the truth eventually. About the people in this town. She just hoped she could take it. Emma flinched, remembering her own disbelief about the situation the first time she'd been told about it.

"Well, Swan, I do believe you've made me extremely curious about your current homestead. I'll be staying for a while – at least, if that's okay with you?" Anna looked up at her nervously. Emma sighed, knowing that she would never turn down the opportunity to have her long lost friend by her side again.

"Of course that's okay. We'll set you up at Granny's hotel. It's just, before you we go, I'm going to have to tell you something, and I'm not sure you're going to believe it."

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**I know there isn't a lot of Hook/Emma/Neal interaction in this chapter, and I'm sorry about that! But I needed to introduce this new OC and I didn't want to rush it too much. You'll find out more about Emma and Anna's relationship later in the story. Next chapter will be more of our lovely Killian, I promise!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Please remember to review if you've got any feedback, comments or you just plain enjoyed it! And a quick thank you to all who favorited and are following this story, that means a great deal to me!**

**Enjoy this chapter ;)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own OUAT.**

Chapter 6: Introductions

Anna had taken the entire explanation of Storybrooke as well as Emma could have hoped for. Of course, she was shocked at first, and had completely denied the possibility, but Emma had shown her Henry's story book and had promised that once she met the people in the town, she would be convinced. And she hadn't been wrong.

"So that really was Pinocchio? And that seriously was Gepetto? Damn, Swan, this is crazy. But if you believe it, I believe it. And I'm sure I'll be getting more proof as I meet the other people in this town. Right?"

"Yeah, don't worry about that. I guarantee that by the end of the week you'll know exactly who everyone is and there won't be a doubt in your mind about it. Listen, I want to pick up a small present for Henry at Mr. Gold's shop. You don't have to come if you don't want to"-

"And what, miss the chance to meet another one of the fairytale folk? Hell no, I'm coming with you. Who's Mr. Gold again?"

"He's Rumplestiltskin. But remember, he's dangerous, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, don't worry about me. If he tries anything I'll just kick his ass with my mean karate skills."

As they neared Mr. Gold's shop, Emma felt a strange sense of comfort wash over her. It had been an easy couple of days, what with her friend back in town, work having been easy, and getting to spend most of her spare time with Henry. When they opened the shop door however, Emma could clearly hear an argument going on inside. She looked at Anna, who shrugged, and the pair quietely walked into the store.

"Listen here, Crocodile, just because we were able to 'get along' to get Henry back, doesn't mean I have forgotten my long life hatred for you. I will still get you back for what you did to my Milah, somehow, someday. And let's not forget what you did to my hand."

As Emma registered who's voice it was, she could already feel the blood rushing to her cheeks. Anna looked at her curiously, but shrugged it off as they listened to Gold's reply.

"I don't think you will, Captain. And I'll tell you why. Henry is now my grandson. And who is Henry's mother? Ah, there's that look of recognition. Exactly. And I happen to know for a fact that you would never do anything that would indirectly hurt her. Even if it means exacting your pathetic excuse for revenge on me. Do you understand?"

"Don't think this isn't over, crocodile. I've come close enough once."

As Hook turned his back on Gold and strode towards the exit, both himself and Emma were surprised to find each other at the door. Emma wasn't really, of course, but she hadn't prepared herself for running into him, and images of her now frequent dreams floated through her head as she looked at the pirate standing in front of her. How could anyone in head to toe leather make it look so good?

Anna coughed, and broke the silence. "So, this is a nice little shop. Emma, aren't you going to introduce me?" Emma could hear the change in tone of her friend's voice, and even though they hadn't seen each other in a long time, she knew what it meant. It meant she liked what she saw in Hook, and that thought was as displeasing to Emma as it had been when she'd heard that he and Tink had a past.

"Right. Anna, this is Hook. Hook, this is Anna.""

"Why don't you start using my proper name for once, love, and call me Killian? I'd say were in that point of our relationship now, wouldn't you?""

Hook kept looking at Anna with an expression of appreciation, and Emma could feel the jealousy coursing through her veins. This was insane, what was wrong with her?

"It's lovely to meet you, darling. Any friend of Emma's is a dear friend of mine. Anna, you said your name was? Well, Anna, if you ever need a tour of Storybrooke, I'm your man."

Emma snorted, and immediately regretted it. Both Anna and Hook were looking at her expectantly; Anna with an expression of mingled curiousity, and Hook with that smirk that reached his eyes that told you that he knew exactly what you were thinking. Emma shook her head and laughed.

"You, the man for a guided tour of Storybrooke? You just got here for the first time a few months ago!"

"Well, love, it's not as though there's much to show her around. But if she'd take me up on my offer, I'd most enjoy her company." He winked at Anna then, and Emma felt her hands shake. She really needed him to leave.

"Shouldn't you be filling your flask with rum somewhere?" Emma asked, somewhat agitatedly, and she could see that her reaction only made Hook's smirk bigger than it was before.

"If the lady insists I leave, then I'll leave. It was lovely to meet you, Anna, darling. Lovely as ever to see you, miss Swan."

As Hook walked towards them to the door, Emma sucked in a breath as he passed closer to her than necessary. His arm brushed against hers, and she could feel the goosebumps rising all over her arm. As if he could feel what she was feeling, he looked at her then, straight in the eye, and she could feel her breath catching again as his turqouise blue eyes searched her gray ones, and in that moment she forgot where she was and who she was there with. It had been a long time since she'd felt this strongly compelled towards another human being. Neal and Graham had been the last two. It actually frustrated her that all the men she had fallen for, when of course, Hook wasn't one of them, how could he be, had been from the Enchanted Forest. Wasn't it possible for her to find a normal guy somewhere? But here she was, having what seemed like an oddly long staring contest with an extremely handsome pirate, and she couldn't help but feel that gravity was actually pulling her towards him. She thought of the kiss they had shared in Neverland, and felt that same urge that was telling her to just grab his leather coat again and kiss him right then and there. In fact, it took quite a lot of her restraint not to, and as he brushed his fingers against her one last time right before he walked out the shop door Emma almost did just that. But he had left, and she hadn't kissed him; and she thanked the heavens for not having kissed him, because it would have given her a lot of explaining to do. To Anna, to her parents, to Hook, probably even to Mr. Gold, but mostly to herself. Because she could feel that she was more intrigued by Hook than she had led herself to believe, and she was thinking about the possibility of Neal less and less because of it.

As she heard Mr. Gold's cane tapping the floor of the shop she snapped out of her thoughts and turned her attention on Anna.

"So that was Captain Hook? THE Captain Hook? Well, I'm not sorry he doesn't look anything like Disney made him out to be. Emma, you okay? You seem a little out of it."

Emma shrugged as nonchalantly as she could. "Yeah, I'm fine. Listen, I saw the way you we're looking at him, and I just wanted to warn you about him. He wouldn't be – he wouldn't be good for you."

Anna laughed and put a hand on her friends shoulder. "Yeah, because you want him all for yourself. Don't even look at me like that, Emma. I'm not blind. You guys had some serious eye contact going on there, and I don't think I've ever seen you that focused on a guy before. If you want to deny it to yourself, then fine. But if you're not going to do anything about it, don't blame me for not trying to get you to see it."

Emma looked at Anna incredulously. She couldn't believe that she had been that obvious about it. What was wrong with her? But she couldn't help herself as she tried to deny it yet again.

"There's nothing going on between me and Hook, okay? Let's just drop it and pick something out for Henry."

Anna glanced at her friend one last time. "Sure thing, Emma. We'll just forget that encounter never happened."

Emma didn't like the tone of her friends voice as she said those last few words, but there was nothing she could do about it now. She pushed aside all thoughts of the one handed pirate, and focused her attention on the one thing that mattered most. Henry.


	7. Chapter 7

**I just love getting these good reviews (special thanks to ADVluv4life and ) So I couldn't wait to write another chapter. I hope you guys keep enjoying the story, and don't forget to review! They make my day =]**

**Disclaimer: I do not own OUAT**

Chapter 7: Dinner

"You're parents are seriously Snow White and Prince Charming? And you're telling me that that – I'll agree extremely perfect couple – are those two people? And they are JUST AS OLD AS WE ARE?!"

Emma flinched a little at her friend's outburst. She knew it wasn't meant to be mean, and it didn't sound it either, but she had honestly been hoping that she would take it better. I mean, she'd accepted that they were all fairy tale characters from a place called the Enchanted Forest, how hard could it be to accept this?

"Emma, do you have any idea how crazy that sounds. It's just…damn girl! Are you really telling me the truth here?"

"Yes, Anna, I promise you, I am. I know it sounds weird but I already explained to you that the curse made them relive the same day for 28 years. So no time ever really passed for them. So as crazy as it sounds, they really are my parents."

Anna sighed, and looked at Emma with a small smile. "It's fine Emma, don't worry about it. I just wish you'd told me sooner before I actually started flirting with your dad. " A sheepish smile spread across her face and Emma couldn't help but laugh. "What? He's a good looking man, your dad is. I couldn't help myself."

"Yeah, I thought I'd let you stew in that one for a while."

The pair smiled at each other and it was just like old times. Emma felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders, especially since Anna had already witnessed the awkwardness between her and Hook and, to top it all off, they had run into Neal yesterday at the hotel as they were getting a room for Anna. It had been an excruciating encounter, which mostly consisted of Emma stammering at the side lines while Anna was her usual friendly self and charmed the socks off Neal, the same way she did with most men. And even though Emma had realized that she'd been jealous when Hook had been flirting with her friend, she'd been surprised to find that she had also been jealous as Neal and Anna were getting acquainted with one another. It was hard, having her feelings split between these two men. One she had so much history with, and the other that had shown her what kind of man he could be for her if and when the time came. But then she remember what Neal had told her that Hook had said, that he would back off for Henry's sake, and she'd get confused all over again. She knew that there had been a moment between the two of them yesterday. That tingling sensation she had gotten in the pit of her stomach returned even when she just thought of his arm brushing against hers again. But she was stronger than this, and she knew that sooner or later she was going to have to pick one of them before she exploded. Thankfully, Anna was there, and Emma was counting on her to help her make this decision.

"So, what are our plans for today? Got any other stores that are decent enough to actually take a look at?"

"Actually, I've got work today. And then later Henry is coming by to have dinner. He's been staying over at Regina's the past few days."

"Okay, let me see if I get this right. Regina is Henry's adoptive mother, who is also the evil queen, who is also technically his step-grandmother because she married Snow White's dad?"

"Yep, that's about it."

"Emma, honey, you're family tree is insane. Imagine how we used to think we didn't even have proper families." Anna winked at her, and Emma smiled.

"I know it's crazy, but it's good crazy. I really feel like I belong here, you know?"

Anna sighed, and absent-mindedly stirred her coffee. "Okay, well I'll just navigate the town by myself then."

"You sure? I can get Mary Margaret to hang out with you if you want-"

"No, Emma, seriously. I'll be fine. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

"Alright, call me if you need anything."

With that, the pair hugged, and Anna grabbed her coat and left the loft. Looking at the clock, Emma realized she was going to be late for her meeting with her deputy, David, her father, it sounded crazy to her ears now as well, so she grabbed her own coat and keys and hurried out the door.

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After a long day at work, Emma was ready to spend some quality time with Henry. She had missed her son while he'd been spending his time at Regina's, but she didn't blame him, and frankly, she had needed the time to catch up with Anna. Realizing that they had absolutely nothing in the fridge and neither of them had felt like going over to the market, they had decided to eat at Granny's. It was a nice night out, a cool breeze flowing in the air around them as they walked over to the diner together.

"How was school this week, learn anything new?" Emma asked, curious as to what Henry had been up to.

"Nothing really. Snow thought it was important for us to remember and learn more about the Enchanted Forest so she gave us a few lessons on that. It was really cool actually, we got to hear stories about dragons and ogres and stuff and then –"

"Whoa, catch your breath there kid. You don't want to hyperventalite before we get to have dinner, do you?"

Henry smiled up at his mom, and she ruffled his hair as they turned onto the walk up to the diner. She could see that it wasn't very busy inside, and as they walked in she let Henry pick out their table. He immediately ran towards one of the booths on the side, and she smiled as she slid in across from him. As she looked over at Henry, she finally noticed who was sitting behind her and she gasped in surprise. Noticing his mom's strange reaction, Henry looked behind him and saw his dad sitting there with Anna.

"Hey dad! Mom and I didn't even notice you there!"

"Hey buddy, that's okay, don't worry about it. No food in the fridge, eh, Emma?" Neal smiled his infectious smile again and Emma tried not to react to it.

"You caught me,' she said sheepishly 'Hey Anna. Wasn't expecting to see you here."

"I wasn't expecting to see you here either! So I take it this is Henry. Hi Henry, I'm Anna, it's nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too. You're my mom's old friend, right?"

"Ah, I see my reputation precedes me. Thanks Emma."

Emma smiled a shy smile. "No worries."

"So listen, why don't you guys join us over here? There's plenty of room and we haven't even ordered yet." Neal directed his question at Henry, but he was looking at Emma for approval.

"Sure! Can we mom?"

Emma didn't really want to put herself in that awkward situation, but Henry seemed so excited. And Neal was his dad after all, it couldn't hurt. There was strength in numbers, they said. She just hoped that was true for tonight as well.

"If you want to Henry, it's fine with me."

Neal beamed, first at Henry, then at Emma, and Emma couldn't help but smile back at him. His grin was still as comforting as it used to be to her. She had always felt special when he gave her that smile before. It just felt different now, as if it was a more indirect sense of pleasure that she derived from it. She couldn't quite put her finger on why.

They all stood up and rearranged seats. Unfortunately for Emma, this meant that she ended up sitting right across from Neal. It was harder to focus her attention on someone other than him, and she was worried of the way she might react tonight. As they finally settled down and Granny had taken their orders, an awkward silence descended upon the group. It lasted for a few minutes, until Neal finally asked Henry how his week had been, and Henry delved into another one of his long tales about school. With their attention focused on each other, Anna turned towards Emma.

"Are you okay with this? I promise, it wasn't a date, but I was sitting here by myself and Neal came in and just asked if he could sit next to me. It was nice to have some company. But I promise, Emma, that's all that it was."

Emma looked at Anna and could tell her friend was being sincere. Sure, Emma was feeling a little bit agitated about it, but she shoved her feelings aside, because that was what she normally did.

"Don't worry about it. It's fine. I don't mind, Neal's a great guy."

"Sure, I agree with you, I guess. But I'm not going to try anything with him,' Emma looked at her friend quizzically 'Don't look at me like that, of course I'm not. You've got so much history with the guy and –' She checked to see if the boys weren't listening, and whispered: 'he's the father of your kid. I'm not about to get inbetween that."

Emma smiled gratefully at her friend, all the while trying not to give away too much of what she was feeling. "Thanks, Anna."

After the air had been cleared, the food came and they ate their meals with easy going conversation between the four of them. Emma was actually having a good time, and she didn't even feel uncomfortable around Neal anymore. It was more like old times, with two people who actually knew her best in the world. All was going fine, until Henry decided he needed to go to the bathroom, and Anna's phone went off. The pair were left alone in the booth, and as a second awkward silence descended on where they were sitting, Neal broke the ice first.

"Thanks for eating with us. I feel like it's been a while since I got to see Henry."

"Yeah, he's been spending time at Regina's this week. I should have told you, I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it, I get it."

Emma smiled at him, and started fidgeting with the corner of her napkin. She wasn't really sure what she should say anymore, and she was hoping that Henry or Anna would come back before she'd have the chance to say something that would betray the nerves that were coming back into her system.

"Listen, Emma, about the other day –"

"It's okay, we had that talk already. Don't really need to hear it again!" Emma tried to sound as cheerful and as nonchalant as she could, but she wasn't even buying her own indifferce.

"No, I know we already had that talk. I'm just glad that we can still hang out like this. I meant what I said the other day. I still want to try, you know, us again, for Henry's sake. But I'm just glad that this is okay. Us, hanging out with our kid and a friend without it becoming weird. So, you know, thanks."

He smiled his familiar smile again, and Emma could feel herself reacting to it. But as he placed his hand on top of hers, she didn't feel as much energy as she was expecting to. In fact, she barely felt anything it all. It was more comforting and familiar than anything else, and Emma was surprised to find herself remeniscing about Hook kissing her palm and brushing against her fingers yesterday. The difference in sensation was immense, and she couldn't help but wonder what that meant. She quickly pulled her hand away as she saw Henry coming from the bathroom, and smiled one more time at Neal as she let Henry slide in beside his father. When Anna came back the group ordered dessert, and as they enjoyed their ice cream in silence she couldn't shake the feeling that a pair of eyes was watching her from the opposite corner in the diner.


	8. Chapter 8

**Here's the next chapter! Hope you guys enjoy and please remember to review! They make my day =)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own OUAT**

Chapter 8: Shock and Surprise

Emma had lain awake for a long time last night. After her somewhat awkward dinner with her ex, her son, and her old friend, she had needed time to process everything. Neal had been so kind to her, and understanding. It made her remember why she had fallen for him in the first place. But she also knew that the lack of - let's just call it tension - when their hands had touched meant something. Maybe it meant she was finally over him. Maybe she was ready to just be friends with him and have that be the end of it. They could have a civilized relationship for Henry's sake. The answer seemed so obvious, and Emma knew deep-down that wasn't what had kept her awake all night. She knew that she had felt someone staring at her from the other side of the diner. But everytime she looked around and tried to see who it could be, she couldn't find anyone. It had frustrated her and she couldn't shake the tingling feeling it had given her.

After she had dropped Henry off at school, she made her way over to the diner again in her yellow bug. She was about to pick up David so that they could head over to the station together. She was looking forward to spending more quality time with him. The last time they had talked, his advice had actually made her feel better. Maybe he could shed some light on her uneasiness.

Just as she was pulling up to the diner, she heard a scream, seemingly coming from inside the hotel. She quickly pulled over, and got out of the car, as she saw David and Mary Margaret rushing out the diner. As she jogged over to meet them, she noticed Hook and…Tinkerbell? Running out of the diner as well. As they came over to meet them, a strange surge of jealousy overtook Emma that she didn't even know she was capable of. As they finally reached each other, Emma couldn't help the next few words out of her mouth.

"Were you guys just…?" She couldn't bring herself not to ask.

Simultaneously, Tink indignantly answered "No!" While Hook, with a mischievous glint in his eyes, clearly said "Perhaps."

Emma, confused at the situation, and confused at what she was feeling in her gut, was shaken out of her own swarm of thoughts as they heard another scream coming from the hotel. As the entire group ran up the stairs and through the door, they all gasped as they saw the scene in front of them.

Granny was lying on the floor, Ruby sitting down next to her. Ruby had tears streaming down her face, and Granny didn't seem to be responding to anything she was saying. Emma quickly called for an ambulance, and ordered Mary Margaret to go get Mr. Gold. Gold may not be the world's most selfless man, but she knew now that Bae was around and he had Belle back in his arms he would be a little more giving.

"Quick, let's get her up on the couch."

As the group picked up Granny and moved her to the couch, she stirred a little in her unconcsious state. As they all breathed a sigh of relief and turned towards the oncoming sound of the ambulance, Emma wondered what the hell could have happened. As the paramedics were coming inside she gently brought Ruby to the other side of the room to ask.

"Ruby, what happened? Why did we hear two screams?"

Ruby sniffled a little, and Emma put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "It's okay. Take your time."

Ruby smiled, and answered the question. "Well the first scream, I guess was Granny's because it was what woke me up. When I went to see what had happened…and I found her at the bottom of the stairs…The second scream was – was mine."

"So you didn't see what happened, how she fell down the stairs?"

"No, no, I didn't. I'm sorry Emma. If I remember anything, I'll tell you, but is it okay if I go with the ambulance to the hospital?"

"Yeah, yes, of course, Ruby. Let me know how she's doing, yeah? I'll come visit you later."

Ruby smiled a small smile towards Emma, and rushed out the door.

Mary Margaret came up to Emma and asked if Ruby had said anything about what had happened.

"No, no, she didn't see anything. We'll just have to ask Granny when she's feeling up to it. Are you feeling okay?"

Mary Margaret put an arm around her daughter's shoulder. "Don't worry about me, Emma, I'm okay. I'm just worried about Granny, and Ruby for that matter. That's all."

"Look, Mary Margaret, I'm just going to head over to the station and write up an initial report. You stay here with David, ask him to ask the hotel guests if they saw anything? That way he can write up his own report when he's done. I'm going to walk to the station for now, just use my car to drop David off?"

Mary Margaret looked at Emma uncertainly. "Are you sure? We could just go get the truck and drive over in that."

"Yeah, yeah, it's fine. I need time to think." Emma received an understanding look from her mother, and turned away to walk to the exit. But before she walked out the door, she glanced back at Hook, who was looking at her with a curious expression. Once again, she could feel that surge in the pit of her stomach. She shook her head, trying to shake the feeling, and walked out the door.

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Almost at the station and lost in her own thoughts, Emma yelped in surprise as she felt something sharp poking into her shoulder. Turning around swiftly, she was ready to take down whoever it was. Throwing a punch, she was shocked as it was blocked quick and hard, and she gasped as she felt a sharp pain go through her arm. Finally looking at her assailant, she sighed in a mixture of irritation and pleasure as she realized it was Hook, and his silver hand-replacement had been what had poked her in the first place. Rubbing furiously at her arm, she sneered at him.

"What was that for? You scared the living daylights out of me."

Killian, with his ever irritating yet gorgeous smirk, chuckled. "Nice to see I still have an effect on you miss Swan. Might I ask where you're headed?"

"Where do you think I'm headed? The station of course. If I remember correctly, you were at the hotel at the same time I was." Emma tried her best to look indignant, but somehow knew she was failing miserably judging by the amused look on his face.

"Emma, love, you're memory never fails when it comes to me and my charming personality."

He then looked her right in the eyes, and Emma could feel her heart fluttering a little as his exceedingly blue eyes looked into her bright gray ones. As if he knew the way he was making her feel, he stepped a little bit closer towards her. Not so close that they were touching, but close enough that she could feel that the air inbetween their bodies was quickly dissipating. She gulped without realizing it, and he smiled at her. Not wanting to break the closeness but at the same time knowing she had to, she looked up into his eyes one more time before taking a step back and trying to cough away the intimacy of the moment. Hook chuckled to himself yet again, much to Emma's irritation, and she set her facial expression back to all business.

"Hook, what are you doing here? Are you stalking me now?"

"Oh, Emma, darling, I don't need to stalk you to get your attention. But deep in your heart you already know that…don't you love?"

Everytime he called her love het stomach did a little flip-flop. She would literally press her hands to her abdomen trying to stop her stomach's acrobatics with sheer force of will. Hook looked at her hand on her stomach curiously, with a glint of something else in his eyes, and she noticed that he swallowed rather obviously as well. She enjoyed that she was seemingly having the same effect on him as he was on her.

"Listen, Hook, this is all well and good, but I really need to get to the station now. I need to write up an official report and I still have a load of papework to do and on top of that Regina said she needed to meet up with me about some town business so –"

"Swan, I understand that you have business to attend too. Don't worry, I'll let you go."

Surprised at his willingness to co-operate, Emma said her thanks and moved past him. She didn't know if she had purposely brushed her arm against his again but she could feel herself shudder. As she continued walking down the street, Killian wouldn't let her leave without saying one last thing to her.

"Swan, I forgot to mention. You looked quite beautiful at Granny's yesterday evening."


	9. Chapter 9

**HAPPY NEW YEAR MY LOVELIES! Here's a new chapter especially for you =] I wish you all the best for 2014. Hope you guys enjoy the chapter and please remember to review! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own OUAT**

Chapter 9: Dreams

Still shaken up over her encounter with Hook, Emma distractedly chewed her dinner. She was sitting with her parents and Henry at the small kitchen tabel in the loft, and she didn't even notice that her entire family was staring at her. She hadn't said a word all through supper, and they were starting to get worried. It seemed like she wasn't even taking an interest in Henry's day, which was unusual.

"Emma, honey, are you all right? You seem a bit distracted."

Emma, snapping out of her daydream, quickly tried to regain focus. But it was hard; Hook's eyes kept swimming in front of her line of vision and she couldn't seem to tear her own train of thought away from him. In the very beginning, when she'd met him, she had never truly noticed how handsome he was. This was mainly because she'd been extremely irritated at his presence and at his betrayal. But now that she knew his character and personality better because of what had happened in Neverland, she kept noticing his good looks more and more each time she saw him. This actually irritated her as well, but in a completely different way. It irritated her because he had such an effect on her. And he seemed to be quite aware of the way he could tease her.

Once again she tried to focus her attention on Henry,with a lot of effort needed. "Yeah, I'm sorry. I was just thinking about what happened this morning. With Granny."

Mary Margaret gave her daughter a sympathetic smile. "We were all worried, Emma. But she's fine, I went to see her in the hospital. She's just in shock, that's all."

"Right, yes. I know. I called Ruby this afternoon. I think I'll go see Granny tomorrow."

David put a hand on Emma's shoulder. "I think that's a great idea. Maybe you should take Henry."

Emma smiled at her son, who was enjoying his spaghetti with such fervor Emma had to laugh.

"You up for that Henry? I think Granny'd really appreciate it."

Henry turned towards his mother, beamed a great big smile, and replied that he would love to go with her to the hospital tomorrow. Emma smiled at her son again, so glad to have him back in her life. It made sense, all of it, and she couldn't remember why she had given him up in the first place.

After a quiet evening in with her family which consisted of cleaning up the kitchen and watching a movie, Emma decided to go to bed early. The tension and anxiety she had been feeling about the two men in her life had finally caught up to her. She sighed, told her parents and Henry good night and headed up to bed.

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_Emma felt lighter than she had in weeks. It was as if a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. Her head was clear, the fog had lifted. It was a fantastic sensation, one she hadn't felt since…well since she had literally run into Neal that weekend in Manhattan. Since all her emotions had come rushing back; the betrayal, the relief, the love, the astonishment, the disbelief and the sense of familiarity that had all come back on seeing Neal again. Also, she hadn't felt this light since Hook had taken them to save Henry on his pirate ship. However, feeling this…this free of burden was a luxury she wouldn't have for long. She knew that better than anyone. _

_As she sat looking at the dust floating about the room which was lit only by the moonlight, she finally realized how tired she was. It had been a fun, but long day with Henry, and after she had dropped him off at Regina's she'd vowed to herself that she would go to bed early, and sleep off the last of the mess in her brain and try to remember why it was that she felt so much lighter. _

_When she trudged up the stairs to her bedroom and the bottom of her bed came into view, she noticed the shadow of a man standing by the window. As she came further upstairs, she noticed the flutter of long eyelashes, the sharp line of an incredible jaw, and the outline of lean and well-defined arms that she could already feel herself being wrapped up in. Without knowing, she smiled at the figure standing in the window, and as she came closer she could see the tug of a smile playing at the corner of his own lips at the same time. _

"_Sorry to barge in like this Swan, but I knew it was just a matter of time. Are you willing to admit the truth yet or are you still wanting to play games?"_

_He turned towards her then, and she sucked in a small breath as she saw the way his eyes lit up as bright as the medditerranean ocean in the moonlight. He smiled at her again, and she could feel herself taking in every detail of his face. The way his eyelashes fluttered as he lowered his eyelids at her in that seductive way of his, the way his stubble made him seem rougher than she knew he actually was on the inside, the way his dark hair only made his eyes seem even more blue than she had ever thought possible. _

_She finally remembered why it was that her head had felt so light. She had finally made her choice. She had chosen between the two. _

"_I think I might be done playing games. Although I'm never really sure I was in the first place."_

"_Oh I think you know you were Swan. And I think a little apology might be in order."_

_He smirked a little, and she blinked. "Oh yeah? What kind of apology did you have in mind?"_

_Apparently surprised by her forward retort, it took him a few seconds to regain his composure. When he finally did, he crossed the room towards her and grabbed her arms forcefully yet gently at the same time. She swallowed, thinking she knew and hoping she knew what was about to happen. She had made her choice, she wanted him, and all she needed was for him to prove that he wanted her too. He inched ever closer, yet much too slowly, and before she could stop herself, she tried to close the seemingly mile long gap between them. But before she could do anything to finalize her decision, he pulled away from her, and chuckled to himself. _

_Emma, breathing heavily, tried to understand why he was expanding the space between them. _

"_What – what are you doing? What's wrong?"_

_Hook looked her right in the eye, leaned in towards her – and for a moment she thought he might kiss her – but then he directed his mouth towards her right ear instead and whispered: _

"_Are you sure you want this, Emma, love? Because once this happens, there's no turning back for me. Not again."_

_At the feeling of his breath tickling the skin behind her ear her whole body shivered. Neal had never made her feel like this, never made every hair on her body stand up straight, never made her shiver with just the touch of his breath on her skin, never made stomach feel so tied up in knots, never her made her heart beat so fast it made it hard to breathe –_

"_Yes. God yes, I'm sure."_

_He smiled at her again, and this time it was a smile that reached his eyes and lit a spark in them. They both leaned in towards each other, neither wanting to make the first move so as to ruin the moment but neither of them wanting to wait any longer either. And then his lips brushed soflty against hers, and she wanted more, she craved more, and she replied to his kiss with a light yet feverish kiss of her own. She could feel his lips curling up into a smile against hers, and she couldn't handle it anymore. Apparently, neither could he. She grabbed onto his thick leather jacket so tight it was like she was holding on for her life. Their lips crashed against each other, in perfect sync, and then he was cupping her neck, just like he had the last time; and the memory made her smile, and left her wanting more, and as they pressed their bodies together even closer than before, Emma heard a loud crash somewhere in the distance. But she decided not to take notice of it because this was the perfect moment and there was no reason – _

Emma woke up gasping, covered in cold sweat, breathing heavily. This had been the most vivid dream she had had so far of her and Hook. She knew it was a dream, and yet she couldn't shake the tingling feeling that he had left behind on her skin the last time he had touched her. She sighed, ran her fingers through her hair, and practically jumped out of bed as she heard another loud crash coming from downstairs. Realizing that she had heard that same noise in the dream and that that was what had woken her up, she made a mental note not to get mad at her parents for waking her up by dropping a set of pans again. She figured that would be a bit too obvious. Sighing, she got out of bed and headed downstairs, but not before she brushed her finger against the spot on her neck where she had felt his fingertips send a spark through her entire body without even really being there.


	10. Chapter 10

**First of all I would like to say a quick thank you to everyone's who's followed, favorited or reviewed this story. It really means a lot to me! Secondly, I'd like to apologize for the fact that this chapter took longer to upload than usual but I've pretty much been crying over the newest Sherlock episode for the past two days and marathon watching Harry Potter. Anyways, I hope you guys like it!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own OUAT**

Chapter 10: Jealousy

Emma felt jittery and yet strangely alive the entire day. That dream had made her feel extremely vulnerable, mostly because she didn't want to admit that the minute she had woken up she wished that the dream had been real. There was no point in denying it anymore. But she was worried that if she finally admitted it to herself out loud, that somehow, in some way, it would be ruined. She wanted to figure out her next course of action on her own, so she decided not to tell anyone about what she was feeling. Not even her closest friend that hadn't turned out to be a family member, Anna.

"So, what's the plan for today?" Anna asked, eager to spend time with her friend.

"I was thinking we'd grab lunch at the diner. The fridge here is empty anyway and the food's better there too. Plus, I don't know about you, but I'm starving."

As the pair made their way over to Granny's, they talked about the usual things that friends talk about. Work, family, irritations, annoyances, food, clothes. Once they got to the diner, and had already ordered their food and had been there for over an hour, Anna got suspicious. Even though she knew Emma wasn't the type to usually indulge in venting over the man-problems she was having, she also knew that Emma was in a tough situation. She had expected her friend to tell her more about it, so she figured the best course of action was to ask her straight out.

"So, Emma. How's the love triangle situation going?"

Emma nearly choked on her food. "What are you talking about? There's no love triangle."

Anna smirked. "Right, yeah, you keep telling yourself that."

Emma looked indignant. "What, I'm being serious! There is no love triangle…there…you know, never was."

Registering what Emma was saying, Anna slapped her hand on the table in excitement, making a few of the other customers at the tables around them jump.

"Great! So you made your decision. See, I told you it wouldn't be that hard –"

Before Anna could finish her sentence however, the bell over the door jingled and both women looked to see who had just walked in. It was Hook, in all his leather clad glory, and simultaneously, Emma swallowed noticeably, and Anna smiled and winked at him. The wink, of course, Emma didn't notice, because she was to busy trying to force the blush that was creeping into her cheeks to leave her face. Hook, noticing the two, smoothly pulled a chair from another table, placed it at theirs and sat down with his chest against the back of the chair. Emma swallowed again, trying to use her sheer will power to stop her heart from beating so fast, as Hook smirked at her in that annoyingly attractive way of his. As Emma was trying to figure out the best way to start the conversation, Anna had already beaten her to the punch.

"Well, hello there, Hook. Didn't realize we were going to have another person for company."

"Please, love, call me Killian. The fact that Emma and her entire family here seem to find it only appropriate to call me Hook doesn't mean that everyone else needs to as well."

They smiled at each other then, and Emma recognized the smile on Anna's face all too well. It was a smile that she had seen on her friend too many times as they had gone through high school together. That was Anna's 'interested in this man' smile. Feeling a strange surge of jealousy (although she shouldn't really be too surprised at it anymore) she quickly intervened in the conversation.

"The reason I call you Hook is because that's how you introduced yourself to me when we found you in a pile of bodies in the Enchanted Forest."

Finally turning his attention away from Anna, although too slowly for Emma's liking, he smiled at her and traced his silver hook up and down her arm once before answering.

"I'd say our relationship has reached the point where introductions don't play a key role in the way we perceive each other. Wouldn't you agree, Anna?"

Anna smiled at him again in that same way and Emma could have sworn that she saw her friend even bat her eye lashes in his general direction. She knew Anna was prone to flirting, and of course she couldn't deny the fact anymore that Hook, Killian, whatever, was extremely attractive, but it annoyed her to no end that it seemed her closest friend hadn't realized she'd made her decision about Hook. Sure, she hadn't let on as much as she probably should have that she, as he would say, fancied him, but still. Anna should have known better.

"Well, I wouldn't say I know your relationship well enough, but if you say so, Killian –"

Again, Anna didn't have time to finish her sentence. Hook cut her off again, but this time with his own words.

"Because if you recall, Swan, I do remember telling you that I quite fancied you."

Slightly shocked at his forward retort and yet strangely satisfied at the way Anna's face fell when he said this, Emma blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

"But if I recall, Hook, I remember you saying you thought about me as more than just your latest 'fancy'".

"And yet I seem to remember telling you that in the echo cave after _you_ made the move to kiss me. Now correct me if I'm wrong here, darling, but to me usually when a woman kisses a man _like that_ it means there's something more going on."

Emma was at a loss for words. On the one hand, she wanted to assure him, Anna, and herself that that kiss had been nothing but a one time thing, as she had said to him back then. But she knew better now. She knew that it hadn't been just a one time thing. If she was honest with herself she knew it hadn't been the moment she'd walked away from him and could still feel the heat from his lips on hers. But she couldn't let him know that. Not yet. Not after he told Neal that he would back off for Henry's sake. She already knew she didn't want to be with Neal. But Hook didn't know that, and for that matter, Neal didn't either. It was easier that way until she knew for sure that everyone would be okay with whatever decision she made. Although she already knew what decision that was going to be.

Hook smiled the same sad smile he had given her back in the echo cave, back when he had first confessed how she really made her feel. The memory made her stomach flip, and she smiled back at him. For the moment, she forgot that Anna was still sitting there. Hook was the first to break the silence, clearing his throat and getting up from his chair.

"Never mind, I guess I'm not as hungry as I thought I was. Swan…Anna, always a pleasure to see you."

Emma vaguely registered Anna nodding a curt goodbye at him and her eyes followed him all the way out the door. When the bell over the exit jingled again as it had when he had come in, Emma felt dissapointed that he had left. She unkowingly rubbed the spot on her arm where he had grazed her with his hook, and she saw Anna's eyes landing on her hand on her arm. Quickly she put her hands in her lap, not wanting to draw more suspicion to herself. In an attempt to divert the attention away from her action, Emma asked Anna a simple question.

"So, Hook, huh? Never pegged him as your type."

Anna gave her friend a sad smile. "Emma, we haven't seen each other in over 10 years. Type's change."

A silence fell between the two and Emma didn't know how to break it. After a few minutes, Anna was the first to speak.

"You know you never told me that you kissed him."

"I didn't. Well, I did, but it was just a one time thing. It was just a thank-you because he saved my dad..you know, David, when we were back in Neverland."

"And yet?"

Emma nodded. "And yet."

"So earlier when you made that remark about there never really having been a love triangle, you meant that you already realized who your feelings were for."

"Pretty much, yeah."

"And it's not Neal."

"Well spotted."

They both chuckled then, and Emma was thankful she hadn't let her jealousy get the best of her. But there was something that was still bothering her.

"Why did you think I would choose Neal?"

Anna looked at her friend, and sighed.

"Well, honestly, it was that letter that you sent me all that time ago. The one where you talked about how you had met Neal and how he was going to whisk you away from your old life. And it sounded…it sounded so much like something I would have wanted for myself. And of course, I know now that he left you and made you feel betrayed. But I always felt like the thing that you guys had, what you had described to me, I always felt like that was something to hold on too. Maybe that's just my idea of a perfect romance, I don't know. And to be perfectly honest, I was kind of hoping it'd be Neal just so that I could take a crack at that pirate myself."

Emma laughed at this last remark. "Sorry to dissapoint."

"I'll survive." Anna smiled shyly at Emma.

"You always do."

A second, but more comfortable silence fell over the pair as they drank the last sips of their coffee.

"Can I ask you one more thing?"

Emma was pretty sure what the thing would be, but she nodded her head anyway, bracing herself.

"Why don't you just tell Hook how you feel instead of trying to hide it all the time?"

Emma sighed, pondering the best way to answer the question. Finally, she formulated her answer the best way she could.

"What happened between Hook and I on Neverland…it was… pretty incredible. And at first I tried to tell myself it was just a one time thing, that I was just saying thank you. But as it made it's way further into the past I knew I had been lying to myself that whole time. But after the kiss happened, and I found out Neal was alive, I just, I guess I just felt guilty about what I'd done. Because I still loved Neal, and I still do, even now. But it felt wrong, being with Hook somehow. Like I betrayed the memory I had of Neal when I thought he was dead and that it shouldn't have been so easy for me to move on. I guess I just told myself that it would be easier for me to stay away from both of them than have to choose one of them in the end because I'd always feel bad about the choice that I made. No matter which way it went."

Anna put a comforting hand on her friend's arm and Emma smiled at her. It actually felt good to tell someone about this. And it was better than telling Mary Margaret, who would have mentioned how proud she was of her daughter for finally embracing her feelings and having hope. She loved Mary Margaret, but recognition was not what she needed right now.

"And besides,' Emma continued, 'Neal told me that Hook said he would back off. For Henry's sake. So that we could try to be a real family. What's the point of realizing what you want when the guy you want isn't even going to try and make a move?"

Anna chuckled to herself and Emma looked at her curiously. "Emma, honey, did that look or sound like he was backing off?"

"How should I know? It's not like I'm an expert in the way Killian Jones flirts with women."

"But you would like to be."

"No I wouldn't!" Emma cried indignantly, making the rest of the diner's occupants look at her with startled expressions.

"Right. And I wouldn't like to be in your shoes right now where two good-looking guys are fighting over me."

Emma rolled her eyes at the last remark, muttering to herself that she didn't even want to be in her own shoes right now. Life had been so much easier when she had shut herself off from affection after Neal had left her. It's all these damn fairy-tale men that were doing this to her. First Graham, then Neal again, now Hook. Why did her life have to be so complicated?

"Emma? Lunch is on me. I'll go pay at the counter and then I'll walk you to the station.

Emma put on her red leather jacket and hooked arms with Anna as they set off onto the sidewalk. A few minutes of walking later, Anna asked the ultimate question that made Emma blush like she'd never blushed before.

"So, Hook… was he any good at kissing?"

"Oh, shut up. You know I'm not going to answer that."

"You know that only means he was."

Emma smiled at the memory, touched her fingers to her lips and whipsered quietely: "Yeah, he was."


	11. Chapter 11

**Here's another update! It may take me longer from now on since school's started again, but I'll try to keep the updates as regular as possible. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy, and please remember to review if you've got anything to say! =] **

**Disclaimer: I do not own OUAT**

Chapter 11: Confessions

Emma couldn't stop thinking about something that Anna had said, and now she was curious about it as well. Neal had told her that Hook would back off, for Henry's sake. But with everything that had happened the last few weeks; the flirting, the small touches, the eye contact. It either seemed that Hook wasn't actually backing off and Neal had lied to her, or he simply had no self-restraint. To be honest, Emma was hoping it was a combination of the two options.

She decided that she needed to talk to Neal. If he had been lying to her, she wanted to know why. No matter what his excuse was, it was completely unfair of him. She was mainly annoyed because what he had said had made her turn into a walking case study of 'wanting what you can't have'. Because if she was being truthful, she really wanted Hook. More than she originally thought. Her encounter with him the other day had sent her thoughts in many different directions. Especially the part where he had mentioned what he had said to her in the echo caves in Neverland. Hearing him say to her, once again, without any hesitation whatsoever how he felt about her then and still did was music to her ears. She just needed to find a way to tell him too.

Emma made the decision to go find Neal. She needed him to explain his actions before she made any rash decisions. As she made her way over to Granny's hotel, she tried to decide the best way to start this conversation. She didn't want Neal to know why she was so upset over the fact that he lied to her about Hook. She didn't want him to know how she felt about Hook. No matter what he had done to her in the past, she didn't want to hurt him now.

As she braced herself to knock on the door of his hotel room, she was surprised when it opened before she could place her knuckles against it. Neal was surprised to see her too, apparentely, and had to regain his balance after he nearly bumped into her.

"Uhm, Emma! What – what are you doing here?"

"I was hoping to talk to you actually. You got a minute?"

Neal looked around into the hallway, sighed, and stepped aside to let her in.

"I can't stay too long though. I'm meeting Henry for lunch in a little bit."

"Oh. Oh, okay. No, that's great. This shouldn't take too long anyway."

After a few seconds of silence, which consisted of Emma trying to find the right words to begin, Neal seemed to get a little impatient.

"So…" he said, clearly trying to get the conversation started. "What did you want to talk to me about?"

Emma took a deep breath, and braced herself for what was to come.

"I just… I've been thinking about something you said. A few weeks ago."

"Okay, and you're only asking me about it now?" Neal smiled that smile that he did when he was slightly confused, and Emma had to take another deep breath.

"Yeah, sorry. It's just, it was something you said about Hook."

"And what did I say about Hook?"

"Well, you mentioned a conversation the two of you had. About me."

"Keep going." Neal said, clearly curious about where this was going.

"You said that he was going to, you know, back off. From me?" She phrased it like a question so that her statement would seem more innocent than it actually was.

"Yes, Emma, what about it? What's going on?"

Before she could stop herself, she blurted out the main thing that had been on her mind.

"Why did you lie to me about that?"

Neal looked taken aback by her question. It was obvious he wasn't expecting it. He laughed that humorless, shy laugh of his that he did whenever he didn't know how to answer someone.

"What makes you say I lied to you about this, Emma?"

"I just, I ran into him a couple of times the last few weeks. And it definitely didn't seem like he was backing off."

"How would you know the difference?"

"Oh please, like I don't know when a guy is flirting with me? What is wrong with you? Why would you lie to me about something like this?"

Neal fired back with a question of his own. "How do you know that he isn't backing off?"

"Because yesterday he basically reminded me of what he said to me in the echo caves! Don't look so surprised Neal, you were there! You heard what he said." Emma could feel her anger bubbling up inside of her, and she dearly hoped that she could keep herself in control. The last time she had really lost it was because of Regina.

"Yeah, you're right. I heard what he said. And you know what? It hurt when he said that to you. I'm sorry Emma, but it did."

This was exactly what she had been trying to avoid. She didn't want to hurt Neal, but didn't he realize that he was unintentionally hurting her too?

"I know it did. And I'm sorry about that. But Neal, I thought you were dead! I thought I'd lost you. And I was upset. And I know I hurt you by kissing Hook. But that doesn't mean you had the right to lie to me about how he was feeling about me. You know that."

Neal clearly felt like he was being attacked, and took on the defensive side.

"Is this about Tamara? Are you still upset that I didn't tell you about her?"

Emma felt herself fuming again at the mention of Tamara.

"Of course this isn't about her! Neal, she's gone, she played us all, it's over. And no, I'm not really sorry about what happened to her because she kidnapped my son. OUR son. So whatever this might be about, this is not about Tamara. I can't believe you would even go there!"

"Then what is this about? I don't get it, why are you so mad at me all of a sudden?"

"Because you had no right to keep that from me!"

"Why does it matter? It's Hook, okay? The guy who's been looking for revenge for over half of his life, who stole my mother and abandoned me at some point in his life! Why do you care so much?"

Emma, surprised by his outburst, had to regain her composure before answering. Neal noticed, and immediately understood what her hesitation meant.

"Wait a minute. Do you – do you – like him?"

"I – I, no! That's not the point!"

"Yes, you do! That's why you're so mad at me. So if you had known, would you have made your second move, Emma? Is that what this is all about? You're mad at me that you couldn't let yourself go after him sooner?"

"That's not fair."Emma whispered, suddenly feeling slightly helpless.

"No, this isn't fair. It isn't fair for you to blame me for whatever emotional mess you've got yourself in. I'm sorry that I lied to you, okay? But you can't blame me for this! You just can't. You want the truth? I said that to you because I was still fighting for you too. I told you I would, when we were back in Neverland. I told you that I would fight for you too. And I'm sorry that I went to such lengths to try and win you over. But I had to, because I love you. If you don't love me anymore, just say so!"

Emma, trying to think of the best way to answer his confession, sharply turned her head when she heard the door knock against the wall. She gasped in surprise as she saw Henry standing there, shaking slightly in his place. She looked at Neal, who also looked at a loss for words.

"How much did you hear?" Emma asked Henry quietly, walking over to him.

"Enough."

Henry ran out of the hotel room before either of his parents could say something to comfort him. Feeling awful about what her son had just heard, she looked over at Neal one last time.

"Go. He needs his mother right now."

She smiled a small smile of thanks at him, and he nodded back. Giving him one last glance before she walked out the door, she ran out after her son, knowing exactly where she'd find him.

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She found him sitting on the beach, staring out at the water, holding his Once Upon A Time book in his hands against his chest. Her heart broke for him. She felt so bad about having him hear that discussion between his parents. She understood how he felt. When she was younger she had wanted nothing more than to meet her parents. She could guess that Henry wanted nothing more than to see his parents get back together.

"Hey kid, mind if I sit with you?"

He shrugged, trying to act nonchalantly, but she could see how hard he was gripping the book to his chest. His knuckles were turning white because of it.

"So… how much did you actually hear?"

"Are you and dad ever getting back together?"

Emma sighed, and put a hand on her son's leg. She decided that honesty was the best way to go here.

"Honestly, Henry, I can't tell you that for sure. But right now, no, it looks like we won't."

"But why not? You were getting along so well in Neverland. When you were working together to try and save me. What happened? Did he do something?"

"No, kid, he didn't do anything. Sometimes people just grow apart. They might still love each other, but in a different way."

"How many different kinds of love are there?"

Emma chuckled at Henry's curiosity. "Loads. Too many to count."

Henry looked like he was seriously pondering her answer. Emma was just glad that he was accepting what she was telling him.

"So why were you and dad talking about Captain Hook?"

"That's… a long story."

"Do you like him the way you used to like dad?"

Emma was completely taken aback at her son's answer. Sometimes he really surprised her with how intuitive and perceptive he was.

"I don't know. Maybe." Even though she had decided to tell her son the truth, she decided that he didn't need the whole truth. Not just yet anyway. But she was curious about one thing.

"What do you think about Captain Hook? Do you like him?"

Henry seemed to ponder the best response before he answered.

"Yeah, he's pretty cool. I know he helped you save me. And he let me sleep in captain's quarters."

Emma smiled, silently thanking a higher power that Henry was okay with Hook. "So you think he's pretty cool, huh?"

Henry finally looked at his mother and smiled. "Yeah." He gave her a look that was saying something more, but she couldn't quite figure out what that was.

"I'm sorry, Henry. About everything."

"I know you are, mom."

She smiled at her son, and put an arm around his shoulders. He leaned against her and they watched the waves come and go for the rest of the afternoon.

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**I'm sorry there's no Hook in this chapter, but we're getting closer to the moment we've all been waiting for! Just a little longer ;) Has anyone else been having problems with the fanfiction website and getting error messages? **


	12. Chapter 12

**I'm sorry that it's taking a bit longer to update nowadays, but it's a combination of school, exams, and the fact that the website isn't really working properly. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! And I want to say again thank you to all those who review, follow, and favorite this story. It really means a lot to me. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own OUAT**

Chapter 12: First-name basis

Feeling simultaneously irritated towards Neal and elated because of her conversation with Henry, Emma was pondering her next move. On the one hand, she really wanted to just tell Hook how she felt, but on the other hand, she was scared. She, Emma Swan, the Saviour, a leader, a lost girl, a mother, was scared to tell a man how she felt about him. And she hated that about herself.

She had talked to Anna about what had happened with Neal. The response was not at all surprising.

"I can't believe Neal would do that to you!" Anna exclaimed, emphasising just a little too much.

"You know if that's not how you really feel about the situation you can tell me your honest opinion."

"Are you sure?"

Emma smirked. "Yes, of course I'm sure."

"Well, honestly, it's kind of romantic."

"Romantic?!" It was Emma's turn to exclaim in surprise. "He lied to me about all of it!"

Anna smiled a sheepish smile. "Yeah, so that he could have you all to himself."

"That's-that's beside the point. He still lied to me. And ended up making me feel bad about getting mad at him for it!"

"I know that, and I agree that that was a bad move. But still, I mean –"

"This isn't still about you trying to get with Hook, is it?" Emma asked, suddenly suspicious.

"No! Of course it isn't. I would never do that to you unless I was absolutely sure you didn't care for him. And you obviously do, so it's not my place. But Emma, come on! You have so much history with Neal, are you really just going to throw that away?"

"I'm not going to throw it away. We can still be friends. And we're going to be there for Henry, together. That's the plan." Emma said, trying to sound as indifferent as possible.

"You mean that's _your_ plan."

"Maybe, but I'm sure he'll agree with me."

"To be honest, Emma, I don't think he's going to down without a fight."

"Then I guess I'll just have to make my point clear to him."

"_Did_ you make it clear to him yesterday?" Anna asked, and Emma went back over the argument she had had with Neal the day before.

"I- I think so. I mean, yeah, you know, sure."

"How convincing."

Emma shot her friend a menacing glare, and Anna raised her hands in surrender.

"Look, Emma, I'm just saying. If what you really want is to be with Hook, than you're going to have to show them. You're going to have to show them both. Otherwise, this entire situation could last for a lot longer that any of you would want it to."

"I know, I'm just…" Emma drifted off in her thoughts.

"Scared?" Anna asked, knowing exactly what was on her friends mind.

Emma sighed, and looked at her friend for comfort. "Yeah."

"I know you are." Anna put her arm around Emma's shoulder.

"When did you get to be so wise?" Emma asked, sighing loudly.

"I taught myself to be wise the last few years, because I knew that I would have to deal with your messes when I finally saw you again."

Emma chuckled, and the two friends spent the rest of the afternoon together, talking, laughing, and enjoying each other's company.

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The next morning began beautifully, with sun streaming in through the windows and a warmth coming through the floor boards. There was not a cloud in the sky, and a slight warm breeze was picking up locks of Emma's curled blonde hair as she walked over to the sherriff's station. She had decided to get up early to get more work done. That way, she could finish work faster and take Henry to dinner at the diner before dropping him back off at Regina's.

It was quiet in the town; it seemed that not many fairy-tale folk walked the streets at 7.30 in the morning, and Emma was grateful for the solitude. It gave her time to think about her next move. As she took a deep breath to get a taste of the fresh morning air, she heard someone calling out in the distance.

"Swan!"

She wanted desperately to ignore it, revelling in her alone-time, but the voice became more urgent as it came closer.

"Swan! Swan! Bloody Hell, EMMA!"

Emma finally turned around, giving into to whoever was trying to get her attention. As she turned around, she was Hook's profile coming towards her, and her stomach dropped. She hadn't prepared herself for this, and she didn't know how she would react to his presence.

"Wow, woman, didn't you hear me call you?"

"Woman?" Emma smirked, confident in herself that she could hold it together for the time being.

"Emma, if you prefer, darling." He winked at her, and she had to stop herself from sucking in a breath. This man had such an effect on her, it was almost ridiculous.

"Sure, whatever. What are you doing up so early, anyway?" Emma asked, trying to remain as sure in herself as she had before. But her confidence was fading quickly.

"Old habits die hard, Swan. The life of a pirate is waking up at dawn and going to sleep whenever it's quiet on the water. What, pray tell, are you doing up so early?"

"I-I wanted to get a head start on work." Her mind had wandered off, and was now picturing Hook in all his leather clad glory steering his ship.

"Swan?" Hearing him say her name shook her out of her thoughts, and she quickly glanced up at him.

"Yeah, sorry, what?" She said, trying to regain her composure. Finally remembering the question, she answered him.

"Oh, right. I just wanted to get an early start on work."

"Ever the strict sherriff, aren't we Swan." He grinned at her, an infectious grin that she couldn't stop from spreading onto her own face.

"Yeah, well, that's me!" Emma said, a bit too cheerfully. A slightly awkward silence descended over the two of them.

"So…Swan. I heard you and Baelfire fighting yesterday. Care to enlighten me as to what that was about?"

"That was a private conversation."

"A conversation stops being private the minute the entire guest list of Granny's hotel can listen in on it, love."

There he went, calling her love again. Emma really needed him to stop doing that.

"Still. No one was supposed to hear about it. Sorry if I disturbed your afternoon drink."

She felt her smile fade, and looked into the distance behind him. He noticed the change in her expression, and his eyes showed concern and he took a small step towards her, as though he was about to comfort her in some way. But he hesitated to touch her, and she was grateful, mostly because she wasn't sure that she coul deal with that at the moment.

"No need to apologize, Swan. If you don't want to talk about it, it remains none of my business."

"You're damn right it isn't." She saw his smile falter, and immediately felt bad about snapping at him that way. Still facing him, she started walking away from him, needing to put a bit of distance in between them. Having him be so understanding just made restraining herself that much harder, and she didn't want to admit anything to him in the current mood she was in.

"Look, Killian, I'm sorry. You didn't deserve that. But I really have to get to work. I'll- uhm – I'll see you around."

She turned around, trying to walk away from him as quickly as her feet would take her. But she heard heavy steps coming up behind her, and she could tell that he was following her. He placed a hand on her shoulder, and before she could stop herself, she smiled at the contact. She didn't turn around though, because she could sense that his face would be close to hers if she did, and she didn't know what would happen.

"You know, darling, I don't recall you ever having called me Killian before."

She couldn't stop herself, and she turned around to face him. The thought made her smile, she couldn't remember ever having called him Killian either. It had been so effortless and had rolled off her tongue so easily. She liked the sound of it.

"You know, my name sounds quite nice, coming from you…Emma." He echoed her exact thoughts, and she smiled at the use of her own first name.

"Maybe I'll use it more often." She said, boldly flirting with him.

He smiled a soft smile, and looked right into her eyes.

"I'd like that." He said quietly, and she could feel his breath on her cheek, and she closed her eyes at the sensation. He smiled at her reaction to his proximity. She felt more relaxed than she had in a while, and she sighed as she opened her eyes again.

Putting a finger under her chin and tilting her head so that she was looking straight at him, Hook searched her face for any signs of how she was feeling. She had a content smile on her face, and, for the first time, she met his blue – eyed gaze with her own stormy gray one.

"What's going through that head of yours, Swan? I can't read you."

"Maybe that's just the way I like it." She smiled at him, and took a few steps back. He brushed his hand against her arm and her own hands as she stepped away from him, and finally let his arm fall to his side when she was out of his reach. She gave him one last smile, turned around, and walked further in the direction of the station. This time, he let her go, but not before he followed her every move with his gaze until she finally dissapeared around the corner.


	13. Chapter 13

**It really annoys me that I can't get these chapter to you sooner, but I have so many deadlines at the moment and exams next week. After that, I'll be updating more regularly! In any case, I hope you guys keep enjoying the story as much as I like writing it =] Remember to review!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own OUAT**

Chapter 13: Coming Clean

Emma Swan had never felt like she needed anyone to depend on. She'd been making a life for herself since she could remember; taking on her own responsibilities and never using anyone's shoulder to cry on. The only two people in the world she had ever let in had been Neal and Anna.

That was before she arrived in Storybrooke.

Now, she had a whole network of people around her that she could lean on. Her parents, Snow White and Prince Charming, her amazing son, Henry, her friend, Anna, and her other friends in Storybrooke, Belle, Ruby, Granny, the Dwarves and many others. Emma had thought that now, more than ever, she wouldn't be in need of a man. She had all these amazing people around her, amazing people who could provide fantastic distraction. And yet, shec ouldn't help her thoughts from flying back to a certain handsome pirate with incredible blue eyes as deep as the ocean.

It was an odd feeling. It almost felt like there was this enormous weight on her shoulder, just because she wouldn't admit to anyone that she had feelings for Hook. Even finally admitting to _herself_ that she had feelings for Hook had taken all of her will-power. And pushing aside an enormous amount of her own pride.

Anna had been right, of course. Emma needed to make it clear to both men that she knew what she wanted. And what she wanted, was Hook.

With the inhalation of a deep breath, she finally decided that she was going to confront both Neal and Hook – no, Killian – today. If she was going to confess her feelings to him, she might as well start using his first name on a daily basis. Heading out the front door of the loft to find them both, her head started spinning with all the possible scenarios. What if Neal got mad at her, and turned away from Henry? What if the two of them started fighting on the street? What if, in a moment of happiness – Emma had to swallow hard here – Killian kissed her? Her stomach fluttered at that last thought, and with a new determination, she walked out onto the street.

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It wasn't hard finding either of them. She had found Neal in the diner, enjoying his afternoon coffee, and had asked him to come for a walk with her. She hadn't been able to spot Hook anywhere, and she really wanted to talk to them both. At the same time. A little like ripping the band-aid off in one go. So she asked Grumpy, who had eyes and ears on everyone when Emma was free of her sherriff duties, and took Neal on a walk to the marina. The Jolly Roger's mast was so tall, she could see it from a long distance. As they drew closer to the ship she could feel herself getting more and more nervous. Apparently, Neal could sense it too.

"You okay, Emma? You seem a little tense."

"Yeah, yeah, don't worry about me. I'm fine." She answered absent-mindedly as she glanced in the general direction of the ship every five seconds. All she needed was a clear sign that Hook - Killian was there. If she didn't get one soon, she was almost sure that she'd chicken out. She may have been extremely nervous, but she didn't want to lose face.

"Listen, Emma, I'm actually really glad you asked me to come on this walk with you. There's something I want to talk to you about –"

Emma finally turned her attention towards Neal. "Okay, yeah, sure, we'll get to that. But I really need to talk to you first."

"Uhm – okay. Emma, where are you taking me?"

As the full shape of the ship came into view on the marina, she hadn't even noticed that she'd started fast-walking towards it. Neal was having trouble keeping up with her, and before she could answer his question, she had already climbed aboard the ship. Neal looked up at her quizzically, but Emma never noticed. She was too busy looking around the ship for Killian.

"Hook! Hook? Killian!" Emma yelled, trying to get his attention.

Understanding fell across Neal's face as he heard the slight desperation in her voice. As Hook finally came up from below deck, Neal could see the relief in Emma's eyes. He sighed in defeat, already knowing where this conversation was going.

"Swan, love, the desperation in your voice the first time you called my name was enough to get me on the deck. What brings you here?" Hook said. After looking at Emma a bit longer than was necessary, he finally noticed Neal standing by the stairs.

"Baelfire." Hook nodded.

"Hook."

Hook looked from Emma, to Neal, and back again. "I'd offer you something to drink, but all I've got is rum, I'm afraid. Unless that's actually what you're here for." He sent a suggestive wink Emma's way, and as Emma reacted by swallowing hard, Neal reacted by coughing loudly to try and kill the sheer awkwardness of the moment. Even Hook seemed startled at Neal's cough, momentarily pulling his attention away from Emma and shaking his head.

"So, to what do I owe this pleasure?" At the same time, both Hook and Neal turned to face Emma. She knew that this was the moment. She needed to take the opportunity now, or she never would. She took a deep breath to brace herself, and began the speech she had been practicing in her head since she had made the decision to come clean.

"Okay, so I brought you both here, okay well I didn't bring you both here, but I needed to talk to you at the same time so here we are." She realized she was talking much quicker than she normally would, and she tried to pace herself. She was very aware of both sets of eyes on her.

"Now I know that there has been a weird situation going on between us since Neverland. And I'm sorry, because I know that's mostly my fault. But here's the way I feel about this now. Okay. Here it is."

She was stalling for time, trying to remember what she was going to say. She could still feel two gazes on her: Killian's heated gaze that made her tingle, and Neal's saddened gaze that made her feel guilty. She tried to push on through as best she could.

"Neal, when – when you fell through that portal, it was horrible. I felt so… empty. I had finally gotten you back in my life and then you were gone again. And I knew that we had issues to work through, but in the back of my mind I always thought we could get over them. And I guess we did, in a way. But it took longer than I expected. Mostly because I thought I'd never get the chance to tell you that I forgave you. I missed you, Neal. When I found Henry, all I wanted to do was protect him from what you'd done to me. But when I finally saw how the two of you got along, it was like something clicked. Henry had two mothers, but he needed a father as well. As long as you were going to be good for him, I was going to be okay with having you around."

"Emma, I –" Neal began, but Emma cut him off. She could see Hook's smile fade from his face, and it made her heart ache.

"No, Neal, please. Let me finish. I need to get this out,' She took another deep breath. 'So when you went through the portal, it was horrible. First because I knew I was going to miss you, as a friend or as more, at that point I wasn't even sure. But mostly because I was going to miss what a great father you would have been to Henry. It would have been nice to be able to raise him together. Whatever relationship we would have had."

"Emma, are you sure you want me to hear all of this?" Killian said, breaking up her monologue.

"Yes. You need to hear this, as much as he does."

"If you insist." But his hesitation was evident as he took a small step further away from her. She turned back to Neal.

"When we found you again in Neverland, I thought my heart would explode. I was so relieved that you were okay. I was so relieved that I didn't have to sift through all the emotions I had had since I thought you'd – you'd died. But at the same time, I felt guilty, because of – well – you know, what happened between me and Killian."

At the sound of his name, Killian smiled softly to himself. Neal noticed the use of Hook's first name as well, and understood the meaning behind it.

"I felt guilty because I didn't want to admit what that kiss had meant to me. At the time, I thought it was just a one time thing, a thank you for saving my dad without there being anything in it for him. But it was – it was so much more than that. And I can't deny that anymore."

She looked at Hook then, and was happy to see his head snap up in surprise. Secretely, she was pleased at his shocked reaction.

"Neal, I loved you, so much. I probably always will love you. And that doesn't have to be in the way it used to be. I'll love you now as a friend, a person I can rely on, and a person I can raise Henry with. A person I can trust. But it's not going to go back to the way it was. And I'm sorry if that hurts you. That's the last thing I want. But I thought you deserved the truth."

Neal sat down on the deck of the ship, understanding what she was saying to him yet being sad and dissapointed to hear it. If he was honest with himself, he didn't really want to hear the rest of what she had to say.

"As for you,' she turned towards Killian, 'you've heard part of it now. I knew that you wanted a relationship with me that was more than friendship. I knew how much I meant to you. When you told me you felt in the echo caves I was surprised, and there was another emotion I couldn't quite place at that time. But I realized recentely, after all the times we bumped into each other, that whatever I was feeling when you told us your secret was happiness. I was happy that you felt that way about me. It felt nice to hear someone say they cared about me that much. The only problem was that at the time my guilt was overshadowing any hapiness I was feeling. So I let it slide and tried to push the feeling down every time I saw you again."

Killian took a few steps towards her, and she met his paces with one of her own.

"Every time you smiled at me, winked at me, or called me love, the feeling only got worse. Finally, I realized I wanted you the same way you wanted me. Yesterday morning, when I ran into you….That was pretty amazing. Whatever it was. But the only thing I could never understand is why you had said that you would back off so that Neal could have a chance. Being here, in Storybrooke, it taught me to fight for whatever it is you believe in. I felt slightly… let down by the fact that you weren't fighting for me."

"Emma, darling, I hate to break it to you, but I think Baelfire here missed out one crucial detail when he told you that I'd said that."

Emma looked at Killian quizzically, and cast a quick glance at Neal before turning her gaze back to Hook.

"Oh yeah? And that would be…"

"He missed out the part where I told him that I was going to back off, because I was in it for the long haul. I told him I would wait for you as long as it took."

Emma's mouth formed a small "O" as she processed what he was telling her. She should have been mad at Neal for not telling her this, but she realized there was no point. She knew why he had done it. She smiled a small smile, and Killian returned it with one of his own. He took one last step towards her then, and laced his own fingers through hers.

"Well, Swan, it took you long enough." he whispered, close enough so that only she could hear.

"Not now. Not in front of Neal."

Hook smirked in Neal's general direction, and Emma shot him a menacing glare. No matter how much she felt for him, she didn't want him to hurt Neal any more than she already knew he was hurt. Killian's smile softened as he turned his gaze back to Emma's, and smiled one last soft smile that was meant only for her.

"Soon though, yes?" He asked, his voice full of hope.

"Soon." She replied, a chuckle evident in her tone of voice.

"As you wish, my love, as you wish." He bent down, kissed the top of her hand, and let it drop to her side. She secretly longed for more contact with him, but knew it wasn't the right time. As she climbed down the stairs of the ship, with a smile that couldn't be wiped off her face, it fell slightly as she noticed Neal miles ahead of her on the dock, dissapearing into the mist that hung over the marina.


	14. Chapter 14

**Here's a short update for you guys, hope you like it! Thank you for all your reviews, they've been wonderful to receive =]**

**Disclaimer: I do not own OUAT**

Chapter 14: In The Moment

Emma hadn't been able to sleep all night. Everytime her thoughts drifted back to her encounter on the boat; the hurt look in Neal's eyes, the way he couldn't get away from her fast enough, the way that Killian had looked at her as she finally told him how she felt, the way her whole body seemed to spark when he came close to her. She knew she still had a lot of issues to work out, by herself, and with the two of them, but she would manage. She would manage because she knew Hook would make her happier than she'd been in a long time.

At breakfast the next morning, it seemed that her parents and Henry had noticed a sudden change in her demeanour. According to them, her step was lighter, she was smiling more, and she generally seemed a lot more.. chipper. And chipper wasn't a word they would have ever though to use to describe their long-lost family member.

"Emma, did something happen yesterday? Something we should know about?" Mary Margaret asked, obviously curious.

"Not right now. But you'll know soon enough, I guess. Don't worry about it. It's all good, I promise." Emma ruffled Henry's hair as she sat down next to him at the table. As David came by to put a plate in front of her, he couldn't help but voice his own concern.

"Emma, if you know something we don't about the town, you have to tell us, it's not just about us – "

"David, don't worry. I promise, it's not about the town! I just need to see someone first before anything can really be discussed so there's no point in talking about it now." Still elated, Emma finished her sentence with a smile at her parents, and they looked at each other with confused expressions on their faces. Henry, however, looked at his mom and seemed to understand exactly what she was on about. He put a hand on his mother's shoulder as he got up from the table and whispered in his mother's ear: "I'm happy for you, mom."

Emma beamed at Henry, seeing the understanding look in his eyes. She really did have a perceptive kid.

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Emma was immensely thankful that there weren't any immediate emergencies that called for her attention over at the station. All she really wanted to do was go to Granny's, sneak up to the inn, look for Hook and try and sort out this emotional rollercoaster she was on. On the one hand, she was still as elated and as happy as she had been that same morning; on the other hand, she was incredibly nervous. How would she act when she saw him again? And, more to the point, how would HE act when he saw her again?

As she contemplated the hundreds of different scenarios that were now racing through her head (a few of which made her blush) she finally reached Granny's. After checking with Ruby to make sure that Neal wasn't in – that was an awkward situation she didn't really want to deal with at the moment – she went in search of Hook's room. She hadn't asked Ruby which one it was because that would have drawn suspicion to herself. The last thing she needed right now was an audience. She was nervous enough as it was.

After knocking on five different doors with no reply, she was suddenly startled when the next one opened. Rather dissapointingly, it wasn't Killian who stood before her then, it was Tinkerbell. Emma mustered up a smile towards the fairy, who, after all, hadn't really done anything wrong. Figuring Tink would know which room was Hook's and not really having the patience to knock on every single door in the inn any more, she took a deep breath and braced herself for the reaction to her question.

"Sorry, I hope I didn't wake you."

"No, no! It's fine. But I'm guessing it's not me you're here to see?" Tink replied, in that hard to place accent of hers.

"I – what – how did you know?"

"Your general look of surprise when I opened the door."

"Oh, right." Emma smiled grimly to herself. "Listen, Tink, would you mind telling me which room is…" she couldn't allow herself to finish her question.

"Hook's? Yeah, no problem, it's room 109. And don't even look at me with that shocked expression, Emma. I knew this day was coming from the moment I saw the two of you together in Neverland."

Emma was speechless. Had she really been denying it to herself for that long? Shaking her head and trying to regain her composure, she tried to appear confident as she muttered a quick goodbye and Tink smiled at her knowingly.

As she strode across the hall and finally came to a stop in front of room 109, she took another deep breath before she knocked on the door. This was it, the moment she had been waiting for and at the same time dreading for the last 20-something hours. As the door slowly creaked open and his head appeared around the corner of the door, a massive grin spread across his face when he saw who had knocked. He stood up straight, coughed to clear his throat, and stood back to let her in. She walked in cautiously, trying to regain her thoughts before the door shut behind her. She stood awkwardly by the window as he stood awkwardly by the door, and a heavy silence descended between them for a few moments. Hook was the first to break the ice.

"So, Emma. Yesterday… all those things you said. Did you mean them?" He sounded cautious, as if he was afraid that she had been lying to him yesterday and was here now to take it all back. Emma looked down at the floor, unsure of what to say.

"Did you mean everything you said to me in Neverland?"

"Yes. Every word." He sounded so sure of himself, that Emma couldn't help herself and meet his gaze. His blue eyes searched her face for any signs of doubt.

"Then yes, I meant every word I said yesterday too."

Hook smirked then, relieved at knowing that her feelings for him were true, and regaining his confidence again. He strode towards her in three quick strides, and wrapped his arms around her waist. Emma, not used to him being so close and so forward, and unsure of where to put her hands, finally placed her hands on his shoulders. She smiled at the contact, and he looked down at her with the same smile. All she really wanted was to close the distance between them, but apparentely that wasn't going to happen before Hook asked her one more question.

"So, Emma love, those times you saw me with Tink, or talking to your friend Anna, or Ruby, you truly were jealous weren't you? I could never really tell. Although of course, your momentous confession of your feelings towards me yesterday certainly cleared up all questions I had on that subject."

He grinned wickedly at her then, and Emma couldn't stop herself from hitting her hand against his chest. She tried to make it hurt, but instead it seemed playful, and Hook just chuckled to himself. Annoyed by his complete ease around her, she tried to retort.

"I never said I was jealous." It was a feeble attempt, and they both knew it. In response, Hook just smiled at her one more time and puller her even closer to him. He brought his forehead down against hers, and they stood like that for a while, before Emma broke the comfortable silence with a question of her own.

"Killian, listen – we have to talk about how this is going to go and –"

"There's that use of my first name again. Still sounds good, if you ask me."

Emma smiled, but continued with her question. "I'm serious. This isn't going to be easy for me; I'll need to explain everything to Henry, and to my parents, not to mention the rest of the town. It's not going to be easy for Neal either, seeing us together. I just want to make sure that we've thought of everything."

Hook pulled his forehead away from hers and looked her straight in the eye. He shifted his grip on her a little, so that the entire length of his arms was wrapped around her – a message that he wasn't just going to let her go so easily.

"Emma, love. Right now, it's just the two of us. Alone, with me holding you the way I've been wanting to hold you since that day we climbed up on that beanstalk together. Let's not think about who else is out there. It's just you and me, right here, right now. And I intend to enjoy every minute of it."

Spurred on by his words and gathering all the courage she had, she moved her hands down to grab the lapels of his jacket again, and Hook took this as a sign that let him know what was coming. He smiled at her, a soft smile, one that only she had seen, and they both inched their faces closer to each other, savouring the moment. It became harder for Emma to breathe as Killian came closer, and she could feel his own hands shaking on the small of her back. Satisfied that he was as excited and as nervous about this moment as she was, she made the final move as Killian matched it at the same time. His lips fell against hers, and the kiss wasn't as urgent as it had been last time. They were both relishing in the moment, knowing that they had so much more time ahead of them to devour each other. His lips felt so soft against hers, and his stubble tickled at her chin. The two sensations at once made Emma's head spin, and she pressed her body closer against his. He cupped his hand behind her neck again, making sure that there was no space inbetween them anymore. As she slowly started moving her lips against his, he replied with a sudden fervour that she hadn't expected. His soft lips moved in sync with her own, and it was a kiss the likes of which she had never experienced. She could feel his silver hook stroke her back, as she explored his chest with her own hands. Every part of her that he touched felt as though it was on fire; and in that moment, she forgot about the entire world outside, and lost herself in the sensation of feeling Killian caress her, the way she had dreamed about so vividly for the last few months.

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**It might sound as if the story is done here, but I'm not finished with it yet. I'd like to explore writing about how their relationship develops, so there's more to come!**


	15. Chapter 15

**So I'm sorry this update took a while, but I needed to figure out where I wanted to head with this story, and also, and thankfully, I just finished with exams today. I'm excited to start writing again! I hope you guys like this chapter, and if you've got any ideas or suggestions I'd love to hear them =] Thanks to all who are following this story!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own OUAT**

Chapter 15: Conversation

It was strange for Emma to be in this position. She was sitting at the kitchen table in the loft, staring at her steaming cup of coffee in front of her that she'd only made for herself to pass the time. The apartment was empty; Henry was at school, Mary Margaret was too, and David was out with the dwarves, trying to sort out one magical situation or another. She had taken advantage of the peace and quiet and called Killian to meet her here. She smiled as she remembered how that phone call had gone; he'd never used a phone before coming to Storybrooke, and there had been a whole lot of awkwardness and confusion before her invitation got through to him. Once he understood, however, she could practically feel his beaming smile radiating through the phone, and she couldn't help but giggle. She, Emma Swan, had giggled. She couldn't remember a single time that she had ever giggled in her life, and secretely, she was frustrated that he had that much of effect on her.

As the minutes on the clock passed by as slowly as they would have if she was writing an exam, she became exceedingly nervous as his impending arrival came closer. It wasn't that she didn't think it was a good idea; in fact, she was dying to see him, but what would they do? They hadn't actually seen each other in two days since their encounter at Granny's Inn. To be honest, she could barely remember the last proper conversation she'd had with him. She rememberd a lot of flirting, a lot of banter, but never an actual conversation. Emma wondered if talking to Killian properly would be as easy as kissing him. Doubt creeped into her thoughts. She hadn't even told her friends or her family yet; not even Anna! She had decided to wait until she was sure that this thing with Hook was actually going somewhere. What was the point of getting everyone all worked up if she couldn't even talk to him normally?

She jumped slightly when she heard the knock on the door. Standing up and smoothing out her shirt, a nervous habbit Emma had recentely developed, she strode towards the door, already feeling the butterflies flitting around in her stomach. She opened the door, trying to keep her face as straight as possible, but seeing him there, looking as irritatingly handsome as he always did, an enormous smile broke out onto her face. Killian reciprocated, grabbed her by the arms, and gently nudged her back inside the apartment. Once the door was closed, he pushed her up against it, and as she revelled in his closeness against her body, she didn't even have time to catch a breath before his lips crashed against hers. She met his kiss with an urgency of her own, slightly moaning as he pushed her up against the door even more with his leg, and each of them lost themselves in the physical sensation before coming back to their senses.

Killian pulled away from the kiss first, and Emma groaned slightly at the loss of contact. He chuckled to himself, and rested his forehead agains hers; a small gesture of affection that she had already come to appreciate.

"Good morning, love."

"Morning,' she said breathily, her head still spinning from his previous kisses.

"I haven't seen you in two days." He said, souding rather dissappointed.

Emma placed one last quick kiss on his lips as she apologized.

"I know, I'm sorry,' she said, untangling herself from his grasp and walking towards the kitchen. 'Can I be honest?"

"Of course you can, Emma. You don't even need to ask." He winked at her, and she could feel the blood rushing to her cheeks.

"Honestly? I was a little nervous. I mean, don't get me wrong, our…encounter at the Inn was great, and that – that thing that just happened was great as well. I guess I just wasn't sure how this would play out."

Hook followed her into the kitchen area and stood facing her from the opposite side of the counter.

"Well first of all, I wouldn't call what just happened between us a 'thing'. I'd rather call it…a passionate physical expression of affection. And second of all, Emma, you're not the only one here who's nervous." As he said that last sentence, he looked awkwardly down at the countertop, awaiting her reaction. Surprisingly enough, she snorted rather unattractively.

"I make you nervous? You, Captain Hook, who's sailed through different lands for I don't know how many years, and I make you nervous? You must be joking."

His expressive features took on a more serious note as she looked at him with a slightly stunned expression.

"Yes, Emma Swan, you make me nervous. You know I wasn't lying when I confessed my secret to you in the echo caves. You really are the only other woman I've ever truly cared for, and that makes me nervous. Possibly because I've forgotten what it's like to be with a woman that I actually want to be with, or perhaps it has something to do with the fact that you are one of the only people in this land or the next that can beat me at my own game. I don't know. But whatever it is about you, believe it or not, you do have the ability to ignite my nerves."

Emma looked at him, still slightly stunned by his sudden confession.

"I – I don't really know what to say right now."

"Well, that's the first time I've ever encountered this problem. Shall we have a drink to celebrate?"

She rolled her eyes at him, but she actually loved that he could be sarcastic and playfull around her. It made her feel more at ease when she was with him.

"Do you _want_ something to drink?" She asked, for lack of a better conversation topic.

"Actually, I think I'd like to hear some more about how I make you nervous. I've elaborated on that topic now, it's only fair if you do so in return." He looked up at her through his eyelashes, and the smoldering look in his eyes almost made her jump him right then and there. But she kept her cool; she would not be the first one to make another move at physical contact. She'd already told him that he made her nervous, he didn't also need to know that she could barely contain herself when she was around him.

"I don't really know what it is. Maybe it's the fact that being around you makes me feel more alive somehow; as much as I hated you in the beginning, you seemed to make my life interesting. I guess I never really had a person who did that for me."

He smiled, more to himself than towards her.

"Perhaps it also has something to do with the fact that I am, indeed, devillishly handsome."

She rolled her eyes at him again. "Well, it's great to know that your self-esteem knows no bounds."

"You're avoiding the question."

"You didn't really ask me one."

"Fine, I'll rephrase it for you. _Do_ you think I'm devillishly handsome?"

She took her time to answer his query, knowing it would drive Killian mad. She took a good long look at him; Emma had never really allowed herself to do this before because she had been worried that it would have been too obvious. That didn't really matter anymore now, since he already knew exactly what she was feeling. She took in his dark, full hair that was now slightly dishevelled from their earlier greeting; his bright, blue eyes that seemed to drink her in whenever she looked into them; his sharp cheekbones, the soft dark stubble that surrounded his lips which were ridiculously good at kissing hers. She wasn't sure that she should let her eyes travel further down, because she knew that he would be wearing that low cut vest of his, and she also knew that if she saw that small teasing of his chest she would probably lose the little self-control that she had at the moment. It had occurred to her before that she'd never really seen him wearing anything other than his pirate outfit, which she thought looked a hell of a lot like the one she had first met him in back in the Enchanted Forest. Smiling to herself, she made a mental note to sometime ask him about his clothes. If he was staying here, he may as well buy something a little less…conspicuous.

Noticing the small tug at the corner of her lips, he looked at her expectantly, obviously waiting for an answer. She was enjoying the fact that he really seemed to be waiting for her to confirm whether or not she thought he was handsome. Surely, he would have figured that out by now.

"I'll get back to you on that."

"Excuse me?" He asked, obviously flabbergasted. Emma was pretty sure that no woman had ever had the decency _not_ to tell him whether they thought he was handsome. She was convinced that his ego could be taken down a few notches.

"All in good time, darling,' Emma said, purposely using one of his own terms of endearment against him, 'All in good time."

He sighed a great big sigh, and Emma honestly laughed out loud. Her laughter irritated him even more, and, apparentely feeling utterly defeated, he sat down at the kitchen table.

"So returning to my own earlier question, would you like something to drink? I can make you tea, or coffee…" She trailed off, not sure of what other drinks they had in the house.

"You know, Emma, when I got into this with you, I didn't realize you'd be such a tease."

As he avoided her simple question in the hopes that it would annoy her so much that she would just tell him what he wanted to hear, Emma decided to make him some tea. As she put the kettle on, she became lost in thought as the familiar sound of the boiling water filled the kitchen area. In fact, she had spaced out so much that she hadn't even heard Killian come up behind her and was slightly startled as he put his arms around her waist from behind. She leaned into his chest, and a shiver ran up her spine as he brushed her hair away and placed a feather-light kiss to the back of her neck.

"This is good," He murmured against her ear, nuzzling his nose against the crook of her neck.

"What is?" She asked, not really listening as she felt his hot breath tickle her skin.

"This. Us."

She nodded in agreement, not wanting to break the moment with words that wouldn't really add any value to what he was saying.

"You know, you're still like an open book to me," he said, as he turned her around in his arms so that she was facing him.

"Oh yeah? In what way?" She said, challengingly, slightly worried about what he was going to say next.

"Whenever I touch you I can feel goosebumps rising up all over your skin. It's not so much your face that's an open book to me now; your whole body reacts when I'm around you."

Annoyed at herself for giving so much away, she returned her attention to the kettle, of which the water was almost done boiling.

"I didn't mean that as an insult, Emma. Some might find it a good sign that your body reacts to mine the way it does."

"Some might find it a sign of weakness."

"Now, now, Miss Swan, after all we've been through, I'm not going to let you put those emotional barriers of yours back up just when I've started to break through them."

For the second time that morning, she was at a loss for words. She turned back towards him, and as he welcomed the gesture she buried her face in his chest and wrapped her arms tightly around his torso. She figured that if he could already read her so well, and if he truly was willing to fight to get through to her, she could make this work for herself. For them. Because if she was honest, she hadn't felt as safe, strong and secure as she did right in that moment for a long time.

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**Hope you guys liked it! =)**


	16. Chapter 16

**Dear readers! I hope you liked the last update, and I hope you like this one. Please remember to review, they really keep me motivated!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own OUAT**

Chapter 16: Confrontation

"I knew it. I also knew it would take you this long to admit it."

"Well I appreciate your enthusiasm." Emma said sarcastically, rolling her eyes at her friend.

"Oh please, you know I'm happy for you!" Anna said, defending herself.

"Alright, alright, I believe you."

"I don't think you do! Emma, ever since I got here I noticed that you had a thing for Hook; I'm glad you finally told him how you felt. Espeically seeing as it was pretty obvious that he had a thing for you too. You deserve to be happy Emma, no matter how much you might have thought that you didn't deserve to be happy in the past."

Emma smiled at her friend, understanding what she was saying.

"Thanks, Anna."

"Anytime." Anna said, winking at her friend in support, "Can I ask you something though?"

"Sure," Emma replied, walking towards her office in the sherrifs station. They had decided to meet at Emma's work before they headed out for dinner at Granny's. She would have liked to take Anna somewhere else, but she couldn't exactly leave Storybrooke. Besides, Granny's lasagne really was to die for.

"Where do you see it going?"

Emma pondered her answer for a while, never really having thought about it in the first place. She was crazy about him, she knew that for sure. He'd already met Henry, and they seemed to be civil towards each other. She knew it would be hard for Henry to have another man in his life, so soon after he met his actual father. But she'd heard stories of how Killian had been with Baelfire when he was just a kid lost in Neverland, and she had no doubt that he'd take on Henry with grace. The hardest thing would be convincing her parents that he was good for her; but she was sure that once they saw the two of them together they would be willing to change their minds.

"I see us taking it step by step. I see us…I guess I see us heading wherever we're supposed to be heading."

"Well, that's not vague at all."

Emma pouted at Anna, and the two burst out laughing. It felt good to laugh, with all the pent up emotions she'd been having for Killian and the stress she'd dealt with lately, it made her feel a lot lighter. As the two friends headed over to the diner, Emma felt completely care free. She was hanging out with her best friend, and she'd already made plans to see Hook tomorrow morning. Killian, she meant Killian. She still needed to get that straight.

Emma and Anna picked a corner booth and ordered as soon as Ruby came by the table. They were both in the mood for a good burger; and it seemed that good food and good company was just what the doctor ordered. She felt so care-free, and she felt that nothing could ruin her mood. Of course, she had that thought too soon. When they had just ordered coffee, Neal walked into the diner. She hadn't seen Neal since that afternoon on Killian's ship; if she was honest with herself, she had kind of neglected any thoughts of him because she'd been so happy to spend time with Killian. Her guilt crept back into her concsience now, and as immature as it may seem, she really didn't know how to deal with the situation. She wasn't mentally prepared for that conversation, and she tried to make herself invisible by pushing her hair in front of her face and sinking down lower in her seat. Anna noticed the technique, and immediately looked around to see what had caused her friend to become so worried. Quickly spotting Neal, her mouth formed an 'O' as she tried to think of a way to get her best friend out of this situation. But she wasn't quick enough; Neal had already spotted Emma's familiar thick blonde hair and headed over towards their table.

"Anna. Emma." Neal nodded in Anna's direction, but his gaze lingered on Emma as he tried to figure out what to say next.

"Hey, Neal, how are you?" Anna asked, trying to break some of the awkwardness that currently hung over the booth.

Neal seemed to ponder his answer for a moment; he was choosing his words carefully in Emma's vicinity.

"Hi, Neal." Emma finally spoke up. She figured he wasn't really here to talk to Anna, anyway.

"I – uh – I just wanted to ask you if it was okay if I picked up Henry after school tomorrow to hang out with him. Haven't seen him in a few days." Neal could barely look her in the eye.

"Of course that's okay, Neal. I'm not going to keep you away from your son. You're a good dad; I've told you that before."

He winced at her last comment, and she realized that she'd said that to him right before she confessed her feelings for Killian right in front of his face. She wanted to apologize, but wasn't sure how.

"Oh, Neal, I'm sorry. I just wanted to make it clear that you can see Henry whenever you want. He loves you, I want you to be in his life."

"It's okay, Emma, you don't need to explain yourself."

"No, no, I do. I'm sorry. I wanted to talk to you sooner but…"

"But you were messing around with Hook. I get it Emma, it's fine. You made yourself pretty clear before. I'll get Henry back to you tomorrow around ten."

He turned away from their table and headed out the door. He slammed the door closed harder than necessary, and the little bell rang furiously. The sound made Emma flinch, and she shot an apologetic look towards Anna before following Neal out the door.

"Neal, Neal! Come on, I want to talk about this." She knew that he had heard her as his head snapped up at the sound of her voice. He came to a halt on the sidewalk, and waited for her to catch up to him. As he sensed her coming nearer, he turned around to face her. Her hair was a bit wild from running and from the light rain falling from the sky. He waited for her to start saying whatever it was she wanted to say; if anything, he was sure it wasn't going to make him feel any better.

"I'm sorry about what I said. Well, no, I'm not sorry for the things I said about you. I really meant them! You are a great father to Henry, and I really want us to be friends at some point. But I realize that it was…insensitive of me to make you listen to those things I had to say to Hook and I'm sorry."

She caught him looking at her, and she could see the saddened look in his eyes. She felt a pang of guilt in her heart; her relationship with Neal was more than over; she was so happy with Hook that she couldn't imagine herself being with anyone else. But Neal was a big part of her life; he would be a big part of her life for as long as she still had it, and she didn't want to be awkward around him for such a long time.

"Look, Emma, it's okay. You're in love with Hook, whatever. That's your decision. Just don't rub it in my face, yeah?"

He turned to walk away again, but Emma cut him off with her own argument.

"I'm – I'm not in love with him, Neal. And it's not like it's a decision I made! I can't exactly help how I feel."

"Sure. I just don't want to hear about it anymore, Emma."

"No, Neal! I want us to be okay! You're Henry's dad, we're going to be seeing a lot of each other. I want you to be my friend. I want us –"

"You want us to what, Emma?" Neal asked, raising his voice. "What? What can we possibly be? Sure, I'd like us to be friends sometime in the future, but it's not going to happen right now. Not when I still have feelings for you!"

"But Neal, please –"

"No! Just, no. I can't deal with this Emma! I get that you want us to be civilized, and I will be, BUT I CAN'T DEAL WITH THIS. Not right now."

They were still standing pretty close to the diner, and Emma was pretty sure that their voices were carrying through the windows. She could already hear the door opening, and she was pretty sure some of the townspeople were coming outside to check if everything was okay. She didn't care though, she needed to get through to Neal. She needed him to see that she was sorry for what she was putting him through.

"I'm sorry. Neal, I'm not trying to force you into anything."

"I know you're not Emma! I GET IT. But I can't keep having this conversation with you –"

"Hey!" Someone shouted in the distance, and Emma was pretty sure it was Killian's voice. She turned around to see him running along the sidewalk towards them. She was worried that it was only going to make the situation worse, and as she turned back to Neal she saw that her assumption was right. Neal had averted his gaze from Emma and was staring in the opposite direction, plotting his eventual escape.

Killian eventually caught up to the pair. "Is everything okay here?" He put his hand on the small of her back, and a shiver ran up her spine. But she could see Neal flinch at the physical contact, and she pulled away from the warmth of Killian's hand.

"Everythings fine, don't worry." She gave Killian a reassuring glance before turning her attention back towards Neal.

"I'm sorry." Emma whispered, looking Neal directly in the eye. He properly met her gaze for the first time since they'd run into each other, and he acknowledged her with a nod.

"I know. I'll pick Henry up from school tomorrow. See you around, Emma."

He turned to walk away, and she followed him with her gaze for a while before reverting her attention back to Killian behind her.

"You okay, love?" He asked, pushing back a strand of her damp blonde hair behind her ear. She leaned into his touch; it was nice to have him here to comfort her. She heard footsteps behind them, and she looked over Killian's shoulder to see Anna coming towards them. Killian turned around as well, smiling when he saw Anna coming towards them.

"Evening, lovely as always." He winked at her playfully, but it had a completely different tone than a comment like that had had before. He had his arm placed firmly around Emma's waist, and he squeezed her in a comforting gesture. Emma glanced at him with a sarcastic smirk, he grinned at her, and Anna smiled at the sight of them acting so comfortably around each other.

"Watch yourself, Pirate. You've got your woman now."

He looked at Emma lovingly, and replied: "That I do, That I do indeed." And he pressed a light kiss to her temple.


	17. Chapter 17

**New chapter! It turns out that this new semester is going to be really busy for me, so I'm going to update regularly once a week. Thanks again for all the support and please remember to review!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own OUAT**

Chapter 17: Opening Up

Emma had been feeling stressed out over the situation with Neal. When he had dropped off Henry after his dinner with him, it had turned into one of the most uncomfortable situations of her life. Her parents had been there too; and all three of her family members noticed the tension. He had said a quick hello to Mary Margaret and David, and after that, he literally speed-walked away from her. At this point, she wasn't so much worried about herself; she was more worried about how it would affect Henry. He was an extremely perceptive kid, and she didn't want him to feel that this whole situation was somehow his fault. He didn't need another set of parents fighting over him.

Her own parents had confronted her about the tension between her and Neal. They didn't know the truth yet about her real relationship with Hook, and she figured it was time to tell them.

"What happened?" Mary Margaret asked, coupled with that empathetic look in her eyes.

"I – we, we got in a fight."

"About what?" David asked, settling himself on the coffee table across from his daughter. Mary Margaret sat next to Emma on the couch.

"I guess there's no point in denying it now. You guys know that there's been something going on between me and Killian, ever since Neverland."

"Killian?" Mary Margaret said, a smirk evident in her tone of voice.

"Yes, I call him Killian. Are you making fun of me?"

Mary Margaret laughed quietely to herself. "Of course not, Emma! We would never do that."

David interjected with his own observation. "So I'm guessing that this is the part where you tell us that you and Hook are a, uhm, thing now?" It was obvious that he was struggling to get the words out, and Emma and Mary Margaret shared a small look of amusement.

"Yeah, that's pretty much what I'm saying. Its just that Neal knows, and he also knows the entire extent of it. And Neal was convinced that we would get back together and I just don't really know what to do right now.

David shifted his position from the coffee table next to his daughter on the couch, and put an arm around her.

"Listen, Emma, your mother and I have seen that this was a long time coming. It's okay that you don't have the same feelings for Neal anymore that you had in the past. And it's okay that you have feelings for Hook now; as much as a I hate to admit it, he's an okay guy. And both of us have seen the way he looks at you, this isn't just a fling for him."

Mary Margaret nodded in agreement, and placed her hand on her daughters leg.

"Your dad is right, Emma. It's okay to feel what you're feeling. Don't let Neal's anger ruin it for you. Don't let him make you feel guilty. He will be able to get over it, someday. You just have to hope that that day will be sooner rather than later."

"But what do I do about Henry? You guys know that he picks up on everything. I don't want him to feel like it's his fault or that he needs to be the one to fix it. You know how he likes to fix other people's situations."

"He'll be okay. And we'll be here to help you. You know that, don't you?"

Emma nodded at both her parents. Of course she knew that she had their full support. She was catching up on all the parental advice she had missed in the past, and she was loving it.

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"Fancy seeing you here, miss Swan."

She smiled at the sound of his voice, and quickly turned to see him coming towards her on the sidewalk. He returned her smile, wrapped his arms around her waist and placed a long kiss on her lips. She could feel herself melting at the contact, and smiled against his lips as he let them linger a little longer than necessary.

"Well hello to you too!" She smirked, noticing how his breathing had quickened a little during their greeting. Every time it happened she was still slightly pleased with herself at the effect she had on him.

"You want to go for a walk?" He asked, his eyes lighting up at the prospect of spending time with her.

"Well, I am a little late for work…" She laughed when she saw his face fall, "Killian, I'm kidding."

Emma heard his sigh of relief and took hold of his hand. As they automatically headed towards the marina, Emma let her thoughts drift towards the events of the past few days. She had been happier with Killian than she had in a long time; she knew that he really cared for her, and she also knew that he would protect her whenever it was necessary. When he kissed her she felt like she was on fire, and hearing him laugh made her heart soar. If she was honest with herself, she couldn't believe it had taken her this long to give in. If she had done so sooner, she would have been a lot happier for a lot longer.

There was only one problem. Neal. It bothered her that he could run around her thoughts this much. She wanted to enjoy her time with Killian, she wanted to enjoy her day in general. But she knew that Killian felt bad as well. He still had a bond with Neal, back when he had known him as Baelfire, and Emma knew better than anyone that it always hurt when you saw a friend in pain. Most of all, however, she wanted Henry to be okay with everything. She wanted Henry to get to know Killian, in a different light, not just as Captain Hook from the stories. She wanted them to get along because she had a feeling that she and Killian were in it for the long haul, to paraphrase his own words. But she needed to wait. She didn't want to rush into anything, not while everything was going so well between them.

"Did I ever tell you about my first time on this ship?" Killian asked her, snapping Emma out of her thoughts as they climbed the stairs to the deck of the Jolly Roger.

"No, no you didn't."

As he helped her climb over the last step, he continued the story.

"I was actually part of the King's navy. The Jolly Roger was the ship that my brother commanded, and I had only just finished my training. I remember climbing up on the deck and actually having to find my balance because of the waves beneath the ship."

Emma smiled, not being able to imagine Hook being part of the royal navy, and certainly not being able to think of Hook having to actually gain his balance on the ship. Ever since she'd met him he'd been the most stable standing man she'd ever seen. She had always admired that in him. He always seemed sure of where he stood.

"I didn't know you had a brother."

Hook smiled wistfully, and Emma could tell there was a longer story behind that. She didn't want to seem pushy though, so she decided to ask that question at a different time.

"Aye, my older brother, Liam. Liam Jones. I'd always looked up to him. He always took me under his wing. Including that first day on the ship. We actually set sail immediately after I got on, and I remember feeling very nervous. He helped me through it."

"He sounds like a good man."

Killian took a moment before responding to her statement. "He was."

Emma noticed his sudden apprehension at continuing the story, but she could tell that it was important for him to share it with her. He was trying to let her in to his past, and she wasn't about to give up the opportunity to learn more about him.

"So what was your first assignment as a young officer?" She tried to make it sound flirtatious, and he smiled at her gesture.

"We had to sail to one of the other lands and trade shipments with another kingdom. We were never allowed to know what was in the crates though. My brother and I found out later that our beloved' – he spat the word out menacingly – 'king wasn't as noble and humane as we thought he was."

"What do you mean? What happened?" Emma asked, placing a light hand on his arm.

"The first time I went to Neverland was with my brother. The king had sent us to find some kind of plant that would help us greatly in times of need. We didn't really understand what it did."

Killian took a deep breath, and Emma could see he was struggling to continue.

"You don't need to know the whole story. But that assignment…it got my brother killed."

"Oh, Killian…I'm so sorry. I had no idea, I shouldn't have pushed you to tell me that –"

"No, it's okay." He turned around to face her and lightly grabbed her hands in his. "You should know. It's part of my past. And, well, it made me into who I am today."

"You mean it made you into the pirate you are today?"

Killian looked down and sighed before answering. "Aye."

Not knowing what to say, she rubbed small circles on the palm of his hand with her thumb. It was weird to hear him being so open about things like this. But then again, he was a man of honesty. He would never have outed his feelings for her back in the echo caves if he wasn't. Even if he was a pirate.

"I like the pirate you are today."

He smiled at her, and placed a light kiss to the top of her hand. She closed her eyes at the feeling of his lips touching her skin; she could probably revel in it forever.

"He was the only family I ever had that I could trust."

His last statement broke Emma's heart. She knew better than anyone what it was like to lose the one person you trusted. Back when they were still in foster care, Anna and Emma had been each other's rocks. They knew they would always have each other's backs. When the time came for them to run for it, Emma had been crushed to be separated from her. She was lucky enough to have Anna back in her life now.

"I want you to meet Henry."

Both Emma and Killian were surprised by her sudden outburst. Emma was especially surprised because she hadn't realized it was coming out of her mouth until she said it. Of course she wanted Killian to bond with Henry. That was only natural. She just hadn't expected herself to allow it so soon. How was Henry going to react to something like that? But it wasn't as if she could take it back now. She anxiously awaited Killian's answer, not sure how she wanted him to respond.

"Emma, love, you do realize I've already met Henry. You know, when I helped you save him off of a magical tropical island and all that."

Emma snorted, relieved that he didn't seem to be taking it all too seriously.

"No, of course I know that. I meant that I wanted you to bond with him. But I mean, if you're not ready, we can always wait. That's no, problem we'll just –"

"Emma. It's fine. I'd be honoured to spend time with Henry."

"Really?" She asked, slightly dumbfounded.

"Of course, love. He's one of the most important parts of your life. And I seem to be invested in part of that life of yours now as well." He winked at her, and she couldn't help herself. She threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly. When she finally pulled away, he placed a light kiss on her lips.

"We are going to have to ease in to it, of course."

"Of course." Emma nodded and agreed, and before she could stop herself, she kissed him so hard he almost toppled over.

**Thanks for reading and remember to review! All your comments mean a lot to me =]**


	18. Chapter 18

**Another update! I'm trying to figure out where I want to take this story further, because I'd like to make it as long as possible without dragging it out too far. But I'm really glad you guys are liking what I've written so far! Enjoy reading, and remember to leave your reviews! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own OUAT**

Chapter 18: Making Plans

Emma had decided to turn to Anna for advice. She felt like she had already gotten everything out of her parents that she could, and she knew Anna would be ready to help in a second. She was worried about how to break the news to Henry; on the one hand, she knew that he already knew; they'd had this conversation before. But he didn't know that it was really turning into something serious so soon. She was worried he wouldn't have enough time to adjust.

Anna had helped her feel more relaxed. It was something she had always been able to do, even when they were young girls, and Emma was grateful for the support.

"I honestly don't know what you're so worried about." Anna stated blunty, receiving a glare from Emma.

"Are you serious? I have to make sure that my son is okay with the new guy that I'm dating who is not his father. He's only eleven! It's not like I can just tell him straight up what's going on."

"Why not?"

Emma stared at her friend wide-eyed. "Really? You really don't get it?"

"No, look, Emma, you're worried. That's fine. I don't completely get it, but I'm here for you."

"What are you not getting, exactly?"

"Well, I know that I haven't known Henry for very long, but he seems to take after you a lot. He's a kid with great intuition, and a kid who pretty much just takes everything in his stride but tries to help everyone if possible. He sounds like a carbon copy of you!"

"Well, yeah, I guess –"

"You guess? Emma, he's your son. And plus, I thought you already had a similar conversation with him about this?"

"It's not exactly the same conversation. I need to explain to him that it's a lot more serious."

"Emma, Henry is the son of the woman who is, I've been told, the product of true love. I think he would have been more appalled if you ended up having a fling with Hook, instead of actually having a relationship with him."

"That's a good point."

"I thought so."

"Shut up."

"That was uncalled for." Anna grinned at her friend, and Emma snorted in response.

"How do you know so much about this stuff?"

"I used to take care of you, didn't I?"

"Can I ask you one more question?" Emma asked, seemingly apprehensive. Anna nodded her head in response.

"You really think it's going to be okay?"

"Wow, Emma, yes! I promise you, Henry is going to be fine with it. Go find him!"

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She had decided to pick up Henry from school and then take a walk with him around town. They had picked up hot-chocolate and muffins to go from Granny's and were now heading down to the beach for some down time. The beach was her favorite spot in Storybrooke. She lead Henry over to the flatstones they had sat on the last time they were here, and they each enjoyed their muffins while Henry told Emma about the past few days. She was glad that he had started talking first; it gave her the time to get her thoughts together.

"Mom – Regina – she's helping me re-decorate my room at the house! But I'm not sure which way I want to go with it yet. Do you want to help me pick out some stuff?"

Emma smiled down at her son. She was happy that he was getting along with Regina so well. She knew that no matter what, he still needed his other mom; and Regina had proved herself when they were still in Neverland.

"Of course I would."

Henry smiled an infectious grin at his mother before taking another big bite of his muffin and a gulp of his hot chocolate. Emma laughed a little to herself. She stared out at the ocean, taking a deep breath before beginning her conversation.

"Henry, do you remember what we talked about last time we were here?"

"Yeah, about how you liked Hook."

"Right." Emma stalled, trying to find the right way to continue.

"And now you're together with him?" Henry asked, unsure of his facts.

Emma was stunned at her son's outburst, but at the same time she saw it coming. He was his mother's child, after all.

"Dad told me." He explained, and Emma felt a sudden rush of irritation towards Neal; it wasn't his place to tell their son who she was seeing.

"Mom, he didn't mean to tell me. It just happened. Please don't be mad at him."

She couldn't say no to those pleading eyes. Henry didn't often make a plea like this, and she had to give in to him.

"I'm not mad at him Henry. Don't worry about that." She ruffled his hair in an affectionate gesture.

"Okay, thanks mom."

"Any time, kid."

They sat in silence for a minute longer before Henry asked another question.

"You really like him, don't you?"

Emma's face lit up at the mention of him, and Henry could see it on her face.

"I want to hang out with him." Henry said, and Emma smiled at her son again. He was always one step ahead of her.

"I was just going to suggest that." Emma winked, and Henry laughed.

"I always know what you're thinking."

Emma heard footsteps behind them, and she snapped her head around to see who it was. To her surprise, and delight, it was Hook, making his way over to the pair of them.

"Killian, what are you doing here?"

"I saw the two of you from the deck of my ship and I thought I'd join you." Emma smiled at him warmly and he returned the gesture. Henry watched their interaction intently, and noticed how his mother once again lit up at the sight of him. He smiled to himself; he could tell that his mom was happy whenever Hook was around.

"You want a piece of my muffin?" Henry offered, holding it out towards Hook.

"Don't mind if I do, mate." Hook pinched a bit off, and popped it into his mouth. Emma was annoyed that she could feel her heart start to pound at the sight of Killian licking his lips; she was sitting here with her eleven year old son, for crying out loud. But at the same time, she could feel a weight being lifted off her shoulder as she saw the two talk to each other animatedly.

"So what's it like being a pirate?" Henry asked, ever the curious one.

"Well, Henry, you get to feel free. When I became a pirate I didn't have to listen to orders anymore." When Hook caught sight of Emma's glare towards him, he quickly corrected himself. "But you should always listen to your elders, boy."

Henry noticed his mom's glare towards Hook, and laughed.

"Don't worry mom, I'll try not to be influenced by him." Emma let out a light laugh. She should have known he would notice this. Her son winked at her and turned his attention back to Hook.

"What's it like to be out at sea all the time?"

"I won't lie to you mate; sometimes it gets lonely. But being on the sea also makes you feel invincible."

"That's cool." Henry said, eager to learn more.

"You think that's cool, eh? Well sometime I'll take you and your mother aboard the ship and we'll go out for a sail on the waters."

Henry's face broke into an enormous grin when he turned towards his mother to ask for permission.

"Can we mom? Please?"

"Oh, Henry, I'm sure Killian has better things to do-"

"Honestly, Emma, darling, I really don't. And I would love to take you two out on the water. It would be my pleasure."

Emma met Hook's gaze and she could see how his eyes lit up at the prospect of spending time with them both. She could feel her heart flutter at the sight of the caring look in his eyes. The corner of his mouth lifted upwards and she couldn't help but let her gaze skim down towards his lips. She really wanted to kiss him right now; but she would control herself for Henry's sake.

"How about this weekend?" Henry suggested himself, as eager as ever to try something new.

Hook chuckled to himself. "Sounds perfect. If your mom will allow it, of course."

"Well, how can I say no now?" Emma grinned as Henry jumped up and hugged his mother, and shot a huge smile towards Killian. Intuitive as ever, Henry walked down to the shoreline to give Hook and his mother some time to themselves. Emma caught on to what he was doing, and she was secretely grateful that her kid picked up on everything; even if she was sometimes worried that he picked up on stuff that wasn't appropriate for him yet.

The second Henry was gone, Killian hooked his finger under Emma's chin and turned her face towards him. He looked into her eyes first, but he was taking too long for Emma's liking; and she closed the gap between them and placed an excited kiss on his lips. He responded immediately, moving his lips in sync against hers. He rubbed his finger gently along her jawline, and she smiled against his lips at the gesture. The kiss became a little more heated, and Emma suddenly rembered that Henry was still at the beach with them and she had to force herself to pull away. Before she could pull away completely though, he placed one last quick kiss on her lips and one on against her jaw before sitting up straight again. He pulled her closer to him, wrapping an arm around her shoulder, and the two of them watched Henry throw rocks into the water before he spoke up.

"Thank you,for letting me spend time with Henry."

"You already knew that I wanted you too, though."

He let out a small laugh and placed a quick kiss against her temple.

"I know, but it can't be easy to let another man be involved with you child, Emma."

"I trust you."

He smiled at her again, "Thank you."

She slipped her fingers inbetween his and the two of them enjoyed the fresh air and the sound of Henry's rocks falling into the water.

"So this weekend?" He asked her, still sounding hopeful even though he already knew the answer.

"This weekend."

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	19. Chapter 19

**Another update! Hope you guys enjoy, please remember to review! I love reading what you guys are thinking about the story =]**

**Disclaimer: I do not own OUAT**

Chapter 19: A Step Further

It had been the most perfect Saturday. The sun shone brilliantly, there were no clouds in the sky to speak of, it had been warm enough to walk around with a light jacket and the company was amazing. Emma, Henry and Hook had spent the entire day on his ship, casually floating on the open water for an entire afternoon. Emma had brought take-out from Granny's diner, and she had to laugh as she saw Hook take his first ever bite of a bacon-cheeseburger. He had a look of pure astonishment on his face and Emma couldn't blame him; she was pretty sure she had the same look on her face the first time she tried Granny's french toast.

Hook spent the afternoon trying to teach Emma and Henry how to man the ship; Emma wasn't really paying attention; she loved seeing Killian in his element; she could tell that he knew every nook and cranny of this ship like he had been born on it, and he was more than eager to share his knowledge with Henry. Henry was also more than willing to learn, and Emma was content just watching them run around the deck, soaking up the sun in the process. Every once in a while, she would catch Killian stealing glances at her, and she would smile at him when she caught his eye. When he returned his attention back to Henry she sighed contently. The day could not have been going any better.

After they had lunch, Killian showed Henry how to steer the ship at the helm. Emma could see the excitement on Herny's face as he realized that he was now in control of a ship; a pirate ship, no less. She also noticed that Killian's eyes were even brighter in that moment than she had ever seen them before. It seemed so easy for him to be around Henry, to teach him what he knew and share his ideas. Without even realizing it Emma wondered if that was how he had been with Neal when he was still a kid, back when he was known as Baelfire to the rest of the world. Her guilt crept back into her concsious but she quickly pushed it aside. She didn't want to worry about Neal right now. She wanted to enjoy her afternoon with two of her favorite men in her life.

"Oy, Swan! Are you ready to captain this ship or should I drag you over here myself?" He winked at her then, and Emma involuntarily swallowed the lump in her throat that had formed at his suggestive tone of voice. Luckily, Henry didn't seem to have noticed.

"Yeah, mom, you should try it! I feel like I'm king of the world right now!"

"Alas, dear boy, there's a bigger chance you're king of the sea now instead of king of the world." Killian said, making Emma laugh.

"You look good up there, kid." Emma said, as she walked over and put an arm around her sons shoulders. She could feel Hook looking at her, like he could read her mind and she could feel her stomach tighten as she met his heavy gaze. He smiled a small smile, which she could tell was only meant for her, and she squeezed Henry's shoulder to give her something to do before she started fidgeting. Killian was making her nervous, and she didn't quite know what to do with herself.

As the sun started to set Killian steered the ship back to the marina as Henry and Emma watched the sunset behind him.

"Today was a great day. Thanks, mom." Henry said, as he moved a bit closer to his mother.

"It's not only me you should be thanking, kid." Emma said, but ruffled his hair anyway.

"I know. I will."

As they finally stepped out on to the dock again, Emma had to regain her balance as she stepped on steady ground. Killian noticed, and quickly put his hand on the small of her back until she gained her footing. His hand lingered a little longer than necessary, and she could feel it burning through the thin material of her cotton shirt. When he finally moved his hand a tingling sensation was left that moved up all through her spine, and she had to shake her head to clear it as she turned her attention back to Henry.

"Well, kid, it's time to take you to Regina's. You got everything?"

"Yeah, mom, don't worry. Hook, thanks for letting me steer the ship. It was awesome. Can we do this again sometime?"

Henry looked hopefully at Hook, who in turn looked at Emma for permission. She nodded her head without even having to think about it twice; she could spend the day with these two as much as she wanted and never get tired of it.

"Aye, sailor. Until next time."

Henry grinned widely, and turned towards his mom.

"Okay mom, we can go now." Emma chuckled, but before she could turn and walk away with Henry Killian grabbed her hand and pulled her towards him.

"Come back after you've dropped him off? I want to show you something."

Emma, curious, nodded her head at him once again. "I'll be back in about an hour."

Hook nodded, squeezed her hand, and watched the two of them walk away with a content smile on his face.

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As she made her way back to the marina, Emma couldn't help but wonder what it was Hook wanted to show her. It had been the perfect day; the whole walk to Regina's house Henry wouldn't stop talking about the ship and Killian as well. She was excited that they seemed to be so fond of each other. It would make the transition much easier.

But she had noticed something different in Hook's demeanor towards the end of the day. He kept looking at her more often, sometimes nervously, sometimes with total confidence, and his heated gaze made her want to find out what his thoughts were behind it. She guessed she wouldn't have to wait much longer; she was almost there now and the sails of the ship were already in sight.

As she climbed up on the deck of the ship she noticed he wasn't there. She took a look around by herself, not even having been able to admire the full beauty and stature of the ship when she had been here earlier. She jumped a little when she heard footsteps coming up behind her, but let out a breath as she turned around and noticed it was Killian.

"I thought I heard you climbing up the steps. You alright, love?"

"Yeah" she said quietely, still taking in the view around her. It was dark outside now, and she could hear the crashing of the water on all sides of her as the boat rocked gently back and forth.

"Here, I want to show you something." Hook said. He motioned for her to follow him, and she obliged, and watched as he climbed down the steps and descended below deck. She followed suit, and at the bottom of the steps grabbed hold of his hand which he held out as a true gentleman to help her down. She smiled at the contact, and he noticed, and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze before he walked further into the ship.

Emma followed him, and noticed that he was leading her to the sleeping quarters where they had shared a drink in honor of Neal as they were on there way to save Henry. She smiled once again at the memory; at the time, she could never have imagined herself to be in the position she was in. She was willingly following Hook because she had finally confessed her feelings for him. Something that her old self back then would have never thought possible. Then again, she never would have thought that she would have kissed him on that island either.

"Here, sit down." He motioned to one of the benches in the room, and she obliged. She was becoming more and more curious as to what it was that he wanted to show her. As he was rummaging through the cupboards he began to give her an explanation.

"Remember what I told you, about who I was before I became a pirate?"

"Of course I remember." Emma rembered feeling broken-hearted for him; she could never imagine what it would be like to watch your own sibling die right before your eyes.

"Well, I remembered that I still have that uniform in here somewhere. From the royal navy."

Emma felt slightly confused. "Okay…and?" She asked, not knowing where this was going.

"Wipe that worried look off your face, darling, it's nothing strange. I just noticed that Henry was growing ever so quickly now and I thought perhaps it might be fun for him to have it." He made a triumphant sound as he finally pulled the uniform out of the depths of one of the cases, and held it up for her to see. The uniform was still a beautiful cream color, completely spotless, and she was sure that the rich navy blue on the collar would have complemented his eyes beautifully. She could only imagine how good he must have looked in that uniform, and the thought sent her mind in all different directions of innapropriate. As touched as she was by the gesture, however, she was a little apprehensive.

"Killian, I mean – that's lovely. And thank you for thinking of Henry. But I can't accept this from you, it's part of your past. Don't you want to keep it?"

"It's not a part of my past that I'm keen to remember any time soon, love."

"Not even your brother?" She asked gently, not wanting to bring up any old feelings for him.

"I have other things to remember my brother by. Don't worry, Emma, I want him to have it." He held the uniform out towards her, and she grabbed it as she said her thank you. Suddenly, a shiver ran up her spine, and she realized it had gotten much colder since that afternoon and she was only wearing her red leather jacket. Hook noticed the shiver, and immediately grabbed a blanket off the top shelf and wrapped it around her shoulders. As he did so, he pushed a few of her blond curls back, and she closed her eyes at his touch, revelling in it. As quickly as his hand had brushed her neck it was gone again, and she felt a little deflated at the loss of contact. He went over to grab a bottle of rum and two shot glasses, and finally sat down next to her as he poured a drink for the both of them.

"To Henry'." Hook said, raising his glass towards her.

Emma nodded. "And to Liam." She said, and Hook cast her an appreciative glance. They both downed their shot, and Emma exhaled loudly as she felt the warm liquid burn down her throat. Without thinking about it, Killian placed his hand on Emma's leg, and she could feel the heat from his hand radiating right to her very core. She wanted more contact, and she was pretty sure that the look he was giving her proved that he wanted more contact too. As she turned towards him and placed her own hand against his cheek she could see his eyes darken, and an instant later their lips connected and they lost themselves in each other.

With every caress of his lips against hers she could feel her stomach tighten further; his lips were warm yet soft and the stubble on his chin tickled her skin in a way she wouldn't have thought was pleasant until just then. He deepened the kiss, his tongue entering her mouth and it was all Emma had to try and stop herself from moaning into the kiss. It seemed he couldn't get close enough to her; he placed his hand on the back of her neck and pulled her whole body closer to him until her legs were tangled up inbetween his and their heaving chests were touching as they fought to keep going without coming up for air. With one hand on the back of her neck, he caressed her sides and her legs with his silver hook, and the sensation of his hot mouth on hers at the same time as the cold metal caressed her body sent her into a frenzy and she swung her leg over his, straddling him. She pushed him up against the wall, and suddenly the blanket was too heavy and too warm and she threw it off without a second thought. Her leather jacket soon followed suit. Killian was roaming his hand around her entire body, wanting to experience every inch of her; and as she ground her hips against his and let her own hands stray across his leather covered chest neither of them seemed to want to stop any time soon. She could feel his desire in every touch, in every kiss, and she was pretty sure she was reciprocating the same feeling. Finally needing to come up for air, she stayed in the same position, and as the two of them tried to catch their breath she leaned her forehead against his. Smiling, he pushed another few strands of her hair back, tucking them behind her ear, and as he did so Emma reach over with her own hand and covered his with it.

"Emma, I –"

"Please don't say anything. Not right now." Emma said, still breathing heavily.

"I was just going to say, 'wow'."

Emma laughed, and so did he, and she could see the muscles in his neck tighten as he laughed along side of her. She wanted to kiss him again, so bad, but Killian beat her to the punch. He brought her hand down and brought his own to her waist, and started placing feather-light kisses along side her neck towards her collar bone. Emma closed her eyes at the feeling; his stubble once again prickling against her skin but it felt so right she didn't even mind anymore. Reaching her collar bone, he left a little love bite, and afterwards kissed over it to soothe any lingering sting. She reached under his chin with her fingers and brought his face up to face her again, and slowly but surely she brought her lips down to his in a kiss that was not as urgent as the first one had been but just as intense and sensual. As their lips moved in sync lazily, he pressed her further against himself and his hand started to explore the bare skin that had revealed itself after her shirt had ridden up. She took this as an allowance to do something of the same sort, and unbuttoned his leather vest to reveal his bare chest underneath. She roamed her hands around it, making him shift his body in response, and as the two continued to explore each other's bodies it led to their first night spent together.


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